TWIC: Turf War Investigation Crew
by JR150
Summary: Many things occur around Inkopolis. And a regular, rag-tag Turf War team has decided to take up the mantle to do good for the city. Inspired by the actions of certain rumored Agents, they have decided to be their own band of sleuths. Of course, this won't happen overnight, and they won't always cooperate, but when they set their minds to it, they can accomplish many things.
1. Prologue Arc: Wakeup Call

"Hurry up, Thandbar!" A blue Inkling girl with a lisp was knocking upon her friend's apartment door. She was wearing a white tank top with green sandals. Her hair in the default style that had long draping tentacles on the sides "You're gonna be late for practith!"

"Ugh..." The yellow Inkling boy slumped out of bed, flopping onto the floor. His small apartment was a mess. Cluttered with books along the floors, and the walls having old human relics scattered about. Including old deer mounts, cowboy hats, boots, and all sorts of Old West items.

It was only a matter of time before the lipsy inkling girl charged on in. Practically knocking the door off its hinges. "Get up! It'th time, remember?"

"Yeh...right." The boy, Sandbar, stretched his arms before standing up. His speech having a country accent to it.

After a getting dressed in his favorite white Tee and shorts, the yellow inkling followed his blue friend. Unfortunately for him, she was extremely jumpy, and wanted to get to their destination as fast as possible. "C'mon, Thandy! Those red and black sneakers won't buy themselves!"

"Ravine, why, do ya even want those darn things? They just like any other pair'a shoes ya can buy at the mall."

"No they aren't!" The girl, Ravine, showed him a magazine, displaying the shoes. They looked like regular shoes, except they were red with black zebra-styled stripes. "It's the Z-Stripe Pacers! They have 6 grear slots, and come with a brand new ability unseen before! Who wouldn't want that?!"

Sandbar sighed mentally. It wasn't on his to-do list to help Ravine with another crazy shopping trip. His friend was always looking to get the hottest new gear that was available, even if she had to splat everyone in the store.

Something Sandbar wanted to avoid this time.

"Eh, I guess if ya want it so badly, I may as well help out. Lord knows how difficult it'll be to buy 'em with all the others that want 'em," he shrugged, and decided to take the lead by running ahead of her, "I'm with ya. Les' go."

In response, Ravine was thrilled. Giving almost an ear-splitting shrill squeal of delight. "Eeee thankyouthankyouthankyou!"

* * *

A while later, they arrived at the shoe store in Arowana Mall. It was a gigantic store with aisles allocated to each shoe size. Thankfully it wasn't open yet, but there was a crowd outside. Inklings and Octolings ready to tear into the store and get their hands on the Z-Stripes.

Sandbar and Ravine were expecting this, and already trying to come up with a plan to evade the crowds. They were both on a bended knee, looking over a diagram of the store. "Alrighty, it'll be just like a Turf War," Sandbar began to explain, pointing to an arrow that went along the right side, "I'mma charge in on the right side, and you'll surf over the entire crowd."

"Righty! And then I flop into your arms and you throw me all the way to the display!" She cheerfully announced the rest of the plan, triumphantly slamming her fist into her open palm. "It can't miss!"

"Shhhhshh! Ey, keep it down, ya gonna let everybody know what we're doin'!" Sandbar chastised her loudness with an upset whisper.

"Hehee...sorry." Ravine responded with a giggle.

As if on cue, a confident, snooty male voice came from behind them. "Ahaha...very original guys."

"Huh?" Their heads turned to the source.

A sky blue inkling boy with a pair of thick glasses, and a white and gray flannel shirt was standing there. His hair in the defualt ponytail style. "I pity your oversimplified ideas. Maybe consider the fact that the left side is where the shoes are located? Or did you forget that?" He ended his sentence with a smirk, and an adjustment of his glasses.

As much as Sandbar despised being corrected, his "friend" had a point. "Tch...yea...I guess ya right, Trident."

The sky blue inkling, Trident, chuckled to himself. "Sandbar, Ravine."

"Ey buddy!" Ravine waved and gave a wide, jagged-toothed grin, "Holy carp! That's three-fourths of our old Turf Team all together!"

"Please, save your excitement," Trident went on. "Now I couldn't help but overhear your troubles. Looking to purchase those highly coveted kicks, I see? Hm..." His head turned to the crowd of Inklings at the door. The shoe store wasn't open just yet, but everyone was practically foaming at the mouth for these particular shoes. "Five minutes until they open, and around two dozen kids ready to broil anyone that gets in their way. Heh. Seriously? These odds are quite in our favor as it is."

Ravine was staring at Trident, her expression half blank, half curious.

Sandbar rolled his eyes. Not very keen on his friend's long spiels. "In Inkling Language, brotha?"

"Comerades. We just need to cause an even bigger distraction. Watch and learn, friends." Trident took a few steps forward, almost innocently so, hands behind his back and all. He took his time, dusting himself off, stretching once, twice. "Ahem...HOLY MOTHER OF COD ITS THE SQUID SISTERS-!"

Silence from the crowd at the shoe store. In a matter of seconds, their attention was stolen, and they ran together in an army to attemtp to locate their idols.

"WHERE?"

"MARIE'S HERE?!"

"CALLIE?!"

"SIGN MY STUFF!"

They all dispersed from the shoe store's front entrance, to which a jellyfish promptly flipped the sign around. Rubbing its head in confusion, wodnering where its potential customers went...

Both Ravine, and Sandbar's jaws dropped to the floor. They were in complete shock at how simple the procedure was.

Trident continued forward, raising an eyebrow at them both. "Hey now. Don't let my efforts go to waste. Let's get inside already."

The pair shook their heads, regaining focus. Ravine more exicted out of the two. "Thanks, Tri!Yaaaay! Z-Stripes here I come!" And she bolted into the store with her friends following behind. Sandbar giving Trident a glare.

"Ya know, ya'll coulda just said shout the names of some celeb and git their attention."

Trident adjusted his glasses, returning his friend's gaze with a proud smirk. "But that would render my idea stale. Come now, we can't explain everything and let our enemies know our plans. That would be tacky."

Sandbar's glare slowly turned into a grin. "Yeah well...I hate yer plans."

"I know."

Upon entering the shoe store, their heard Ravine give an inkcurdling scream.

 _"AHHHHHHHHH!"_


	2. The Meeting

Both boys ran in, trying to figure out why their friend was making such a loud noise. Only to come to the most underwhelming sight all day.

Ravine was on her knees, crying a cartoonish waterfall of tears from both eyes. "THEY'RE GONE! HOW?!"

"...Really? Are ya squiddin' me?" Sandbar balled his fist. Now he had gotten up early for absolutely no reason.

Trident merely growled to himself. His own pride concerning the fact that his plan went to waste and not to mention the fact that Ravine didn't get what she wanted upset him greatly. "Tch...just order them online," he muttered while adjusting his glasses once more.

The blue squid girl crawled over to them, grasping Sandbar's shirt while her eyes welled up with tears. "Y-you don't understhand...those thhoes were one of a kind. They can't be bought anywhere elthe!"

"She is correct," the voice of the jellyfish store clerk called out to them. "They were worth five hundred thousand cash, and now I am unable to make sale!"

Both boys reeled back in shock. Completely perplexed as to why some shoes would cost that much. Not only that, but exactly how on what was left of Earth was Ravine able to afford them.

Trident gave his weeping friend a look of confusion. "Uhh...Ravine...how did you get that much money?"

By now, she had let go of Sandbar's shirt, and wiped her tears off her face. Sniffling once, twice. "Oh, well...I've been working extra hourth at the coffee shop downtown, I juggle that job and my posth at Ancho-V Games. It wath really gonna help my practice if I ever get back into doing Turf Wars."

Sandbar decided to ask later about her job life. Instead focusing on the shoes. "So if these things were that valuable, that's sorta grand theft, right?"

"Obviously," Trident responded. "Something of such great value being stolen is punishable up to 20 years."

"Welp, looks like we're gonna have to hunt 'em down."

"Excuse me?"

Ravine was confused as well. "Huh?"

"Those shoes mean a lot to ya, so we mas well try and find 'em. I still ain't got nothin' better to do anyways. Ya'll in?"

Exasperated, Trident gave a sigh. "Ugh. You clearly intend to snoop around for trouble like you always do. I may as well watch your back to assure you don't end up in the wrong palce at the wrong time or something."

"...H-hey! If you're gonna try and find the shoes, then lemme help too!" Ravine shouted, making it known that she was in as well.

Sandbar replied with a simple nod. "Alrighty then. If we're gonna figure this out, then I know the perfect place we should start."

* * *

"Seriously?"

"What, Tri? Ya can't investigate on an empty stomach!"

They had all traveled to Inkopolis Plaza and got a table to eat some Deep Fried Schwaffles. Apparently, this was Sandbar's idea of a starting point. Meanwhile, Ravine was happily munching on her crusty confectionary, letting them both speak.

Trident rolled his eyes. "Honestly, you two are completely spineless."

"Well actually-"

"I know already. Don't finish that sentence. Anyway..." The sky blue inkling took out his Squidphone X, swiping through a few pictures on it. "I asked the store clerk to send me the video footage of his store in the past 24 hours. For some reason, he couldn't give it to me while we were there, so I had to wait. I despise Cloud saves sometimes."

Sandbar was very intrigued at watching the footage. "Well, c'mon and show us!"

"Ye!" Ravine shouted in agreement.

"Alright, here we go." Trident turned his phone facing them both.

On the screen, the replay of last night's footage from the shoe store would play. Nothing happening for several house, but the Z-Stripe shoes were there.

"Nothin' yet," Sandbar spoke up, "Hit fast forward."

Trident nodded and tapped his phone to speed the video up. It continued to show nothing...nothing...until finally, there would be a silouette visible on the screen. A figure with multiple suction cups and a slender body.

"Aha! Got somethin'! I bet mah bottom that it's one of them darn Octarians."

"What? Are you serious?"

Ravine let out a loud belch after finishing her food. Looking up at the sky with wonder. "Hm...what would they want with a pair of shoes anyway? They don't even have feet."

The boys gave it some thought, before shrugging it off. "Not sure, but for now we should focus on tracking those shoes down. This could possibly lead to something much bigger."

"Eh," the yellow inkling raised a brow, "Whatcha sayin', Tri?"

"If my hunch is correct. This is more than just a mere theft. This has to be something much more intricate if the Octarians are going out of their way to steal valuable footwear."

"Right, I say we head to Octo Canyon and blast 'em up!" The sole girl of the group was more than excited at the idea of being violent in order to get what she wanted.

"Hm...sounds like a plan. But if we're headin' out, we'll need to prep ourselves." Sandbar suggested while gettign up from the table. "Let's all go home and get our gear."

"OOOH the team's back together! The USS Seawolves back in action!" Ravine shouted gleefully at the idea of them all working together once more. "I'mma get my special Brella~!"

Trident rose from the table next. "I'll arrive with my Charger. I do expect you both to be on time though. Last time we did something like this, it cost us dearly."

"Ya ain't gotta bring that up. I know that Tortuga's kinda...gone now because of that."

The mood of the conversation shifted harshly. The three of them becoming quiet. Until finally Ravine broke the silence. "I miss her...she always knew what to say and helped us think better."

"Yeah...I wonder where she is."

Trident groaned once more. "Ugh, look at yourselves. Complaining about that which you can't control. What's past is past. I say we do this in her honor and get those shoes back. How about it?"

Both Ravine and Sandbar replied with confident nods.

"Good. We meet at the entrance to Octo Canyon tonight."

And with that, the group dispersed...


	3. Engagement

The group met up. Coming together at the entrance to the Octo Canyon at Sunset. Sandbar holding his signature Dualies, Trident with his Custom Charger, and Ravine with her Special Polka Dot Brella.

Sandbar took notice of the way her weapon was colored. "Um, Ravy, don'tcha think them polka dots are kinda..."

"Kinda what?" The inkling girl held her Brella close to her chest. The hot pink polka dots clashing with the boys' more tactically colored weapons.

"Ugh, it's-look, never mind. I doubt anyone will see us in the dark anyhow," Trident interrupted, then turned into his squid form near the sewer grate. "Let's go." And he was the first to take the ride downwards, followed by Sandbar and Ravine.

* * *

Upon exiting through the other side, the three Inklings landed in a murky grassland near Octo Canyon. The moon high in the sky, luminating the otherwise dark night cast down upon them. It didn't take much time to figure out where they needed to go, as a trail of convenient Octo ink was scattered before them.

"Hm..." Trident got down on a knee, inspecting the pink substance before them. "Freshly produced. My best estimate is that whoever took those shoes had to have come this way. Seeing as this is the only transport route to the Octo canyon that's close by." With a chuckle, he corrected the position of his glasses once more, "Hehe, foolish Octarians think they can outrun me, can they?"

Throughout his speech, Ravine was miming each word her cyan friend said with mocking expressions, which caused Sandbar to giggle.

To which Trident had gotten a bit ticked off by. "Something funny?"

"Oh no, nothin'. We were just thinkin' of a way we could approach this," Sandbar said to quickly clean up his act while Ravine snorted.

"I see...in any case, we should simply follow the trail and make our next move from there." The bespectacled inkling looked to the dark, cloudy skies. "And we should hurry. I feel precipitation is iminent."

"Yeah yeah, come on leth go!" The impatient inkling girl had enough of the listening. Running ahead of both her friends to get a leg up on them.

"Hey! Wait! Gah, that scatterbrained fool..." Trident began running after her with Sandbar in tow.

* * *

It wasn't long before Ravine had to stop though. "!" She planted her heels into the dirt, which made her grind to a stop at the top of a ridge. "Woahhh..."

Soon, her two friends caught up to her, out of breath from having sprinted in their kid forms. "Darnit, man why didn't we just-"

"I told you...huff...if we ink anywhere here, they'll find us-"

Ravine turned to them both and grabbed them by their shirts. "Guyth look!" The ridge they were standing on would lower into a divot. A massive divot with what looked like a testing facility in the middle. "I think I foundth something!"

"Hm..." Trident went back into his usual mode of thinking. "Perhaps this is a another one of those testing camps for Octarian specialists."

Sandbar had to disagree, looking up a sign nearby. "Uh, looks to me like we hit the jackpot ya'll." Upon said sign, the other two looked up to see a giant shoe, and words in the Octoling language.

"Well, it seems we know where those Z-Stripes have gone," Trident commented while stroking his chin, "The question is-how do we get inside..."

"We can help you with that~" An eerie feminine voice, followed by the clicking of weapons were heard from behind the three. Much to their horror, three Octoling troops had snuck up on them, and found their position.

"...Aw carp."

The second Octoling spoke up. "Hm, looks like we found ourselves a nice catch. Two hunks of fresh tempura to sink our teeth into~"

Finally, the third made her introduction. "The girl's an ugly one, though. We can toss her to the Piranha Tank."

"WHY I OUGHTA-"

Trident quickly put his hand over Ravine's mouth in a bid to keep any obscenties from exiitng. "Why haven't you alterted your superiors of our position? Surely it's a foolish idea to let us stand here without everyone knowing."

The leader Octoling gave a smirk, her red glasses peering into their eyes. "We figured we could have some fun with you first before you get fried. Think of it as a last meal request~"

"Drop your weapons, and come right over here, boys. The girl can stay where she is."

"You wanna go?!" Ravine couldn't stand being considered second-rate. As if she wasn't even important enough to be captured alongside her friends like she was a bucket of chum. It caused her to think irrationally, fueled by anger in the heat of the moment. "I'll shove my Brella so hard in your face you'll-"

"Cool it, Ravy, it ain't worth it." Sandbar tossed his Dualies to the ground, and held his hands up before making his way over.

Trident's eyes grew wide with disbelief. There was no way his friend was going to give up that easily...right? Regardless, he put his Splat Charger down and made his way over as well. He shot Sandbar a look of confusion, as if he was hoping that he had some sort of plan ahead.

"Those are some good boys. Now why don't you just follow us?" The first Octoling hooked her Octoshot to her waist, and took Sandbar's hands behind his back. The second Octoling did the same with her Roller, albeit on her back while taking Trident.

That's when Sandbar had a wide smirk on his face. Everything had already been mapped out in his head.

He performed a sweeping kick to throw the Octoling off balance and knock her to the ground, and knocked her Octoshot away with his foot. The second Octoling had her attention stolen by the action which caused her to lose focus of her cyan hostage. From there, he kicked her Roller off her back while holding her arms. This rending both of them without their weapons.

The third Octoling got ready to aim her own Blaster, but Ravine had already got behind her while the boys went to work. Her eyes squinted with every bit of malice she could muster while her Brella was pointed directly behind the Octoling's head. "Go on, pull that trigger. I dare you." Her gaze shifted towards the other Octolings that been restrained by the boys. "You two, get up."

She had no choice, and dropped her Blaster. Now, all three of the Octolings were at their mercy.

Sandbar took a moment to breathe. "Whew...now that was a close'un."

Trident simply dusted himself off and made sure his glasses weren't scuffed. "Ahem...indeed." The faintest blush was displayed on his cheeks. The Octoling touching him had caused slight embarrasment in the boy.

"What do we do with 'em guyth?" Ravine tapped each Octoling witn her Brella, causing them to shiver a bit. "I say we splat 'em into next week!"

"Bad idea." Trident disagreed. "If we do that, they'll be sent back to their Spawn Points which are likely located within the facility and they'll be able to give away our positions. Speaking of which, we still haven't figure out a way to get in yet."

Sandbar took a look at their three Octoling prisoners and raised a brow. "We can't, but they can."

Each Octoling trembled in fear...


	4. Splattack!

"...I can't believe we've done this."

"Yer serious about this?"

"C'mon guyth, we look awethome!"

What they had done, was taken the outfits of the Octolings that were going to capture them. It was the standard set of black boots, red glasses, and the black body suit that was a crop top. In which, it exposed their midsections, something the boys weren't exactly enjoying.

"This thing feels darn cold!" Sandbar protested, "And it smells weird..."

Trident had to agree as well, fumbling around a bit since he had to replace his regular glasses with the red ones. "And what's with girls always wearing these outfits that expose skin? If it's trying to pass off as some kind of armor, then it's doing the exact opposite considering-"

The inkling girl of the group had grown tired of listening to her friends. "Would you guyth justh come on!" So she grabbed both of them by the arms, and slid down the side of the ridge into the divot where the facility was located.

From there, the clothes they were wearing allowed them to bypass the security measures in the front. A pair of Octarian Commanders with Heavy Splatlings at the front gate, along with Octarian Chargers on top of the building.

"...Holy carp it's workin'-"

"Shhh!" Ravine made sure they weren't being followed as they snuck in. Pushing open a metal door to get inside.

Once there, the three of them had a full glimpse of what was going on. In the middle of the room, the Z-Stripes were sitting on a podium, and all around, the Octolings were hard at work utilizing a printing press on a conveyor belt machine. An attempt to mass recreate the pair of shoes that had numerous ability slots.

The three Inklings went and hid behind one of the machines, whispering to each other.

"So that's why they took 'em...they wanna make some ultra powered gear," Sandbar commented.

"They'll completely devalue my favorite (s)thoes...!" Ravine let out a panicked whisper. "The whole economy of the footwear regime will be screwed over!"

Trident scowled. "Silence, we need to think rationally. If we fly off the hook now, we'll surely be caught again."

"Uh, bud-we're to yer right."

The cyan inkling turned his head. "Sorry, these foolish spectacles don't compare to my own. Anyway, what's the plan?"

Ravine had her hand on her Brella handle. "I say we shut 'em down and steal 'em back."

"Um...that ain't a good idea, Tri. Whatcha think?"

"Well the way I see it, there are three possibilites. 1. We steal them. 2. We steal them. Or 3. We go home with our tentacles between our legs."

All the sudden, footsteps tapping the metal floor made noise. Coming in the direction of the three. They all halted their breath, trying their best to avoid making any sound. Meanwhile, an Octoling troop made her way over to the machine that they were hidden behind, and started to work. This made them sigh in relief.

Unfortunately the machine started to kick up dust, which began to irritate Ravine's nostrils. It caused her nose to wiggle, and she began building up a sneeze.

"Ah..."

Both Trident and Sandbar's pupils dilated. If their friend sneezed, it'd give away their position, and they'd be done for.

"Ahhh..."

Reaching into his pocket, Trident hurried and placed a tissue up against her nose.

...

Nothing happened, and they each took a sigh of relief.

Sandbar commented on this. "Whew...that was too-"

"ACHOO-"

"..." All the machines in the room stopped. Leaving it quiet enough for a mouse to be heard-if they were still around. The sound of weapons clicking and aiming at their direction were echoing around the silent room.

"Who's there?" One of the troops called out.

The inklings took a pause, with Ravine blushing red as a beet. Whatever happened next was about to be completely on her shoulders. "...Guyth...I-I'm sorry..."

"Ain't no point in hidin' no more..."

They quickly tossed off the Octoling gear they had stolen, and swapped to their normal clothes before jumping out from behind the machine with their own weapons raised.

Sandbar smirked, doing his best to hide his ever growing fear. "Wassup ya'll?!"

Around two dozen Octoling troops had their weapons primed and ready. The inklings trio backed against the wall.

"Finally, I can see," Trident said once he put his normal glasses back on, priming his Charger. He too was afraid. Beads of sweat running down his forehead, but like his friend, using his best grin to hide this fact.

"Not...afraid..." Ravine on the other hand was a mess. Her knees quivering like wet noodles beneath her body weight, yet she still held her Brella up as if she was ready to engage them all.

The Octoling in front simply cackled. "Ohohoho...fresh meat...let's dig in girls~"

Trident let out a small cough, speaking in a low tone. "What's the plan Sandman?"

"Oh now yer askin' me to think up somethin' Mr. Strategy?"

"GUYTH FOCUS!"

The Octolings began to close in...

Their leader gave the signal. "Fire!"

As soon as they heard their leader speak, the Octos began firing everything they had at the trio. A flurry of pink ink swarming on their posiiton.

FWOOMP

In an instant, Ravine had opened up her Polka Dot Brella, reflecting a good chunk of the ink that was being shot at them while also keeping them hidden. It took every one of them to empty their ink tanks to finally destroy it, revealing a lone Ravine standing on her ow with a cheeky grin.

"Hiii..."

"Bah! Find the boys!"

This put the Octo troops on alert, inspecting every inch of the room to locate the two who had seemingly disappeared.

That was when a blue laser beam centered on an Octoling's head. "Bye."

SPLAT!

A straight line of cyan ink was left behind along with a ghostly Octopus floating off. Trident had taken the high ground somewhere in the room.

"WHat?! Where is he?!"

SPLAT! SPLAT!

Another two down, which caused even more confusion among the Octos.

"HURRY AND FIND HIM!" Their leader screamed, which prompted the troops to look upwards into the metal piping along the ceiling.

SPLATSPLATSPLAT!

"Howdy ya'll."

This gave Sandbar enough time to get a good position on the ground, standing behind the Octolings with his Dualies, already having taken out three of them on his own. And with a flick of his wrist, he leaned to the side, splatting another, and another. All while dodging whatever they threw at him. "Go Ravy!"

Their actions, gave Ravine the opening she needed, running up to the pedestal to nab the still-sealed Z-Stripes. But not before the Octoling leader tripped her, making her land on her face.

"Oof!"

"Miss me, runt?!" She walked up to her, aiming her N-Zap for Ravine's face.

With her Brella's shield broken, she had no means of defending herself from attack, so instead, she leveled the playing field a little. Quickly flipping over onto her back, and kicking the Octoling's N-Zap from her hands. "Fight me for real!"

Ravine tackled the Octoling, shoving her against the wall. "Do you know the little Jellyfish children that spent their hard time making those Z-Stripes?! They're very talented! And then you go and replicate them like it's nothing?!"

"Tch, so what?! Companies make knock-offs all the time. And now you suddenly care about it when it's shoes?" The Octo snapped back, "All you inklings care about is yourselves! WHere's our clothing advantage! I'd love a piece of gear that offers Ninja and Thermal abilites but no!"

Those words rang heavily upon Ravine's ears, distracting her for a brief moment. This allowed the octoling to kick her right in the midsection, and send her skidding across the floor. "Ow! That doesn't mean you should steal!"

"When you're not allowed in Inkopolis, what can you do, huh girlie?"

"B-But...Octolings are allowed in! You just still submit to DJ Octavio like mindless lapdogfish!"

As this was going on, more Octo troops flodded the center area. To which Sandbar and Trident continued to fend them off. They were now back to back on the maIn floor, splatting as much as they could on either side.

"Ravy grab the shoes and let's go already!"

The Octoling leader retrieved her N-Zap, and grabbe dthe inkling girl off the floor. "You don't know anything about me. About us. What we live through...you're just like the others." She tossed Ravine over to her friends, on one small patch of their respective ink colors.

"...I'm out."

"Dangit! I'm tapped here, too!"

They were all out of ink now, but Sandbar was willing to put his weapons away and continue fighting if he had to. "If we gon' get cooked, it's gon' be a bonfire for all ya'll!"

"Hm...I don't like these odds...but I won't fall to such insignificant drones," Trident said in agreement.

Ravine looked at the floor, almost hunched over in defeat, before rising to her feet. "As much as I sympathize, I won't ever turn back on my friends!"

Everything seemed completely lost for them at this point. No ink left, completely surrounded once more, and tired from the constant fighting. Backs together as they gave side glances to each other. As if they knew this would be their last time...

That was, until seemingly out of nowhere, a crash through the ceiling caused everyone to look up in pure disbelief at what they saw...


	5. The Finisher

"...No way..."

The hole in the ceiling was caused by another inkling girl. Dark purple. Clad in a black leather jacket and moto boots, performing a Splashdown from the air. She reeled her fist back, and came crashing down with enough force to rattle the entire facility. The trio lost their balance from how hard the attack landed, almost stumbling.

MULTISPLAT!

The resulting attack caused every Octoling in the radius between the walls to fly off in their spectral states. Leaving one, long troop who panicked upon seeing who it was.

"...N-no! It can't be you! You were imprisioned and fried years ago by our Grandmaster!"

The dark violet girl strutted forward, responding with naught but a few words. "Let them go."

"Y-yes! WHatever you say!"

Upon hearing this, Ravine stole the pricess shoes from off the podium and ran out with her friends.

"Hm..." The leather wearing inkling turned to make her exit, but her stroll would be short-lived, as the Octoling leader pressed a button.

"You leave me no choice, Rebel!"

Several cages opened in the hallways nearby. Out came several Octoling troops that were a sickly green. They flooded into the room, surrounding the inkling.

"...Ugh." Her eyes narrowed, displaying even more irritation than when she first arrived to the facility.

"Attack!"

Compared to the regular Octo troops, these green ones moved like blurs against the darkness. Assaulting the inkling from all sides. From her position, there were at least half a dozen targeting her all at once, but surprisingly, she was unfazed by these odds.

In an instant, she brought out her Inkbrush, spinning in place and striking three at once. All splatted.

Two more came from behind and grabbed her shoulders, to which she forced her body to lean forward with all the strength she had, flipping them in front of her. She then kicked the Inkbrush which flew forward and trapped them both, splatting them against the wall.

The next one was attacking from her right side. With a quick spin, she performed a palm strike to the Octoling's midsection, which made her keel over. This gave the inkling an opening that she took advantage of. Grabbing the stunned Octo by the arm, spinning her, and throwing her into the rest of the green troops that were assulating her backside. Now she had piled them up into a corner.

A few seconds past, and a Splat Bomb rolled up to their feet.

"Pathetic."

BOOM!

The green Octolings had all been splatted. Meanwhile, the pink leader was nowhere to be seen...

* * *

Outside, the trio had made their escape. Backtracking all the way through the Canyon and returning to Inkopolis. Each of them huffing, and taking a moment to rest.

"That...was...crazy ya'll," Sandbar lamented.

Ravine, still clucthing those Z-Stripes was in a fetal position on the ground/ "...Do you think that was her?"

"No...it couldn't have been She was taken from us two years ago." Trident responded, lying against a nearby tree.

A few moments had passed.

Finally, the sewer grate they had used to travel began rumbling, revealing the same dark purple inkling that had come to their aid in that heated scenario.

"...Tortuga?"

Saying she didn't look happy was putting it lightly. The violet inkling, Tortuga, folded her arms, glaring at each one of her teammates. "What the heck was that? You. Complete. Squidheads."

They all visibly flinshed at the sudden outburst. After being apart from each other for so long, this was not the reaction they were expecting.

"...T-Tee, we weren't expectin' ya."

"Oh yeah, of course you weren't. Because you just had to hunt down some ridiculous pair of shoes, right? Lemme guess, Ravine wanted 'em, right? Why? Just...give me a good explanation for it."

"W-well...they looked so I didn't want the Jelly to lose his money...plus I wanted to buy 'em!" She stuttered in her response, unable to come up with a proper answer.

"And you. Trident. You seriously didn't think to get the heck outta there when fightin' so many Octos? I though you was the brains here."

For the first time in a while, Trident looked visibly shaken. Tapping his fingertips together since he knew there was no way he could weasel out of this. "...You have to understand there are certain circumstances in which I...simply cannot be expected to force everyone to bend to my will. Isn't that a bit...rude?"

Tortuga rolled her eyes, not buying her friend's spiel one bit. Then her gaze focused on the bright yellow inkling boy. "And you. Sandy. Dear almighty cod. Why didn't you try and reasonably talk 'em down like you always do. Or was you too chicken to say anything?"

Sandbar didn't respond. Only staring down at his feet.

"Tch...guys c'mon. I love ya. All yous. But you can't be doin' foolish things like dat for no good reason. Get up. Tomorrow mornin' we're gonna take that Jelly those shoes back, and...pretend like this never happened, capice?"

The three inklings gave a nod, and rose to their feet. The four of them began walking down the sidewalk together.

"Alright...now let's go home. I gots some 'splainin' to do myself."

Sandbar gave a weak chuckle, "Like where ya been all this time?"

* * *

And the next morning, as Tortuga said, they would return to the shoe shop in Arowana Mall where Ravine not only showed she had them, but pair for the pair with the 500 thousand cash she had.

"Wow, Ravs. Didn't realize ya got so rich," the dark purple inkling chuckled.

Ravine had put the special shoes on, posing in front of the mirror for a bit. "It's a long thory, which I'll tell if ya finally tell all of us whatcha been doin' for the pasth year."

She gave a smile. "Deal, hehe."

Ravine and Tortuga exited the shoe store, and went to the food court where their friends were supposed to be getting them food.

"Ugh, where are they with those fish sandwiches? I can't tell my story on an empty stomach..."

After a few more moments of waiting, both boys returned. Each of them carrying a big tray of fried seafood.

"Here we go ya'll."

"Honestly I can't even begin to express how much I'm anticipating your little...tale, Tee."

They both placed down the trays, but before any of them could get to chatting, an entire news team with a camera crew, microphone, and sound equipment surrounded their table.

The four froze. Speaking in unison as the Inkopolis News Team surrounded their table.

"Uh...can we help you?"


	6. The Start of an Era

An friendly looking orange Octoling girl with her pink hair done up in a bun was holding a microphone in front of a TV Broadcast camera. She was wearing a professional khaki suit, a skirt, and black low heels.

"This is Lily Corriente coming to you live from Arowana Mall in Inkopolis, where we've at long last made contact with the legendary Tortuga of the former Squidbeak Splatoon Training Camp." Much to the dismay of the group, the determined reporter walked around to the side of the table, shoving the microphone in the purple inkling's face. "Tell us, where have you been all this time?"

Tortuga's form was squished against the side of the table, trying her best to back away from the mic. "Uhh...yeah can we like...not? I ain't in the mood for...talkin'."

"Nonsense!" The Octoling reporter pressed her further, "Everyone wants to know whether or not you were actually accepted as Agent 5!"

"AGENT 5?!" Her three friends shouted in unison while spitting their drinks out.

"Tory, what?! Ya'll ain't told us nothin' about trainin' to become an Agent!" Sandbar exclaimed.

"Yeah! Tell us all about it!" Ravine shouted.

Trident's eyelids were twitching like strained rubber bands. "THAT IS SERIOUSLY ULTRA-COOL!" His outburst caused his friends to pause. They couldn't remember the last time he looked so excited. "...Ahem. Of course if you choose not to speak of it, then we won't judge you."

"Eh, nah. It's fine." The dark purple inkling girl shrugged. Not wanting to disappoint her friends (and because she knew the Inkopolis News was very annoying), she decided to continue. "Truth is, yeah. Ever since we stopped bein' a Turf War Team I've been trainin' to be Agent 5 and-"

Her three friends nearly launched themselves into Tortuga's face. Their heads squished together as they were fanboy/girling over her. "TELLUSTELLUSTELLUS!"

"Ugh..." she exhaled and casually pushed them back with her hands. "I didn't end up gettin' there. I failed."

Just like before, her friends shouted all at once. "WHAT?!"

The orange Octo newscaster was disappointed to hear this. "Oh...so you're not Agent 5?"

"No."

"Ah, sorry about that, miss. Carry on." The news team packed up and disappeared just as fast as they had showed up.

"Tch figures. They ain't even bothered to ask if I knew who Agent 5 really was. They don't care about anyone but themselves..." the dark violet inkling resumed her meal, dunking some fish sticks into mayo.

But before she could take a bite, she noticed her friends giving her wide-eyed stares.

"Um...yous got somethin' to say?"

Trident cleared his throat. "Ahem. Yes, well first off. Now that those pesky newspeople are gone, we would like to know exactly why you wanted to become Agent 5 in the first place. As well as the fact of...how you didn't make it.."

Both Sandbar and Ravine nodded in agreement.

After munching on her fishsticks, Tortuga gave her response. "Well, it's simple: I tried out, endured the trainin' for over a year, and lost to someone betta. Nothin' else to it."

"Um..." Trident gave the other two a look, shaking his head a bit. A silent plea to avoid further discussion of the topic. "Alright. Anyway, would you like to hear about what we've been doing in the past year?"

Now a bit more eager, Tortuga was glad to have the attention off of her for a change. Ready to listen to each of them with bated breath. "Oh yeah! Whatcha been doin' guys?"

"I'll go first," Trident continued. "I've been spending my time with the local chess team. Humans really did invent pretty clever board games. We uh...we even won five tournaments in the last year. Not to mention my ongoing research into the Kingdom of Atlantis, which I still have yet to prove the existence of." As much as he enjoyed it, there was the slightest hint of dryness in his voice that he tried to hide.

"I've been...around." Sandbar reiterated the practiced phrase. "Just sorta been runnin' an online business sellin' old human stuff. The Salmon Run shifts help ya find all sortsa cool stuff that washes ashore." His eyes darted left, right. In the back of his head though, he felt otherwise.

Ravine was last to explain herself. "I've been working at this little coffee (s)thop downtown for the lasth year. Ith been...fun. Even though the manager won't let me rank up because he wanth me to stay a waitressth for some reason." Once she had finished her own spiel, a long, awkward pause lingered over the group. Each of them not wanting to express something in a certain way.

It was only after a few minutes of silence that Tortuga had finally broken it. "...Guys. Are y'all really happy with what ya've been doin' the past year? Or are ya just doin' these things cuz ya feel like ya have to?"

And in response, all she received was more silence. Followed up by the gentle sipping of a drink.

"Ugh! Are ya'll serious? Ya do a buncha borin' jobs for a year and get nothin' done with ya lives, and then all the sudden ya jump at the chance to investigate some stolen sneakas?"

"Hey, admittedly it was...quite enjoyable to be honest," Trident responded. "It was the most fun I've had in awhile."

"Yeah. Like, it was nice to be in the heat of action again. Even if it was just for some shoes," Sandbar commented.

Ravine giggled. "Hehe! It wath pretty scary being in all that danger. But like...fun scary!"

As they gave their words of agreement, it made Tortuga think hard. Folding her arms and shutting her eyes to give herself a silent moment. Would it really be worth it? Putting themselves in harm's way just to go around writing wrongs and making the city cleaner?

She considered her own past. Her own upbringing, and how it affected her daily life.

"Maybe this won't be so bad," she thought to herself, "If we can, why not at least TRY and make a difference here. This city may look like sunshine and rainbows on the outside, but on the inside..."

"Tory?" The mute violet inkling's thoughts were interrupted by a Ravine poking her cheek with a fishstick. "Did ya fall athleep?"

"Hm? Nah." She said before she snapped the fishstick away from her friend using her jaws. Swallowing it whole. "I gots an idea guys. Meet me at my garage later." With that, she hastily rose from the table and ran off, leaving her three friends puzzled.

* * *

Following Tortuga's orders, the three of them would arrive at her small house near the edge of the city. A more desolate area filled with silence and a lack of life. A far cry from what the middle of Inkopolis usually was.

Sandbar was the first to question the situation. "Whaddya think she wants, ya'll?"

"I'm not sure, but whatever it is...it intrigues me," the studious cyan inkling responded.

Ravine was busy taking selfies with her Squidphone X, posing in front of the new areas she visited.

The garage door opened up, revealing a giant board in the back with the letters "TWIC," writted in large, bold black.

"Ey guys. Welcome to the first meetin' of the Turf War Investigation Crew!"


	7. Case Arc 1: A Fresh New Art

After they first joined up together under their new faction name, the Turf War Investigation Crew made numerous further exploits all over Inkopolis. Newspaper headlines began recording each and every one of their cases they had cracked open together.

 _INKLING VIGILANTES CATCH ROBBER!  
"After a string of incidents involving several new weapons being pilfered from Ammo Knights, the TWIC has thwarted the criminal and she is now facing a harsh sentence."  
_  
 _TWIC: HELPFUL OR HARMFUL?  
"Are these inklings really doing it for the good of the city? Or are they simply drafting up their own mishaps to conveniently solve? Stay on your toes, citizens. You never know who could be fooling you..."  
_  
"Guyth guyth!" Ravine dashed into Tortuga's garage, their base of operations. She was carrying a bundle of newspapers and threw them onto the wooden table in the middle. "We are doing (so)tho cool! Everyone loveth uth!"

Both Sandbar and Trident were locked in a game of chess when this happened, and the result was their entire set of black and white game pieces being pushed onto the floor due to the newsprint taking its place.

"Aw c'mon man I was 'bout to win that one!" Sandbar yelled, hands on his head in shock.

Trident scoffed, "Please, you would've lost like the last 42 times. Give it a rest."

"Grr..." The yellow boy grabbed up some of the newspapers. "Ooh, yer right. The public seems like they enjoy what we do."

"Ugh, and we already have haters," Trident rolled his eyes at the more negative article. "Would it kill people to give someone a chance?"

"Ah, lighten up!" Ravine pat his head. "We're doing good for the town, and I don't wanna sthop!" Then she looked around for someone who hadn't made herself known. "Huh? Where's Tory?"

As if on cue, she walked into the garage through the door that led to the house. "Hey Ravy. We got another job from somebody. A curator at the Inkblot Art Academy wants us to pull a stakeout. Someone's been stealing sculptures worth millions of cash."

"Oh my, this sounds concerning..." Trident said before smirking to himself. "And entertaining as well."

"Uggghhh why?!" Ravine on the other hand, was a bit more cynical. Folding her arms in while pouting. "All that stuff in there is just randomized ink splotches on paper that a baby squid could do! WHat's so important about it?"

The studious boy opened his mouth to respond, but was silenced by Tortuga gently nudging his shoulder.

Sandbar pulled out his laptop, typing up for some search results. "Yup, looks like the Goby Lisa, The Watery Night, and the Inkopolan Gothic were all taken. All that's left is the 'Head of a Squid Lady' piece. I say they'll be after that one next."

"Then I say we head over there," the dark violet girl proclaimed. "C'mon guys, prep up and get ready to go."

With a nod, and a reluctant one from Ravine, they all left the garage to get what they needed.

* * *

Later, they would arrive on the scene at the Academy. The crew approached by a Jellyfish whose eye was twitching uncontrollably. "Thank you! Thank you so much for answering my call! I heard about your team in the news and figured I would request the help since you never know who to trust with these types of things. Am I right? Of course I am, haha!"

Each of them glanced at the Jellyfish as he rambled, awkward tension rising among the group before Tortuga gave a response. "Not a problem, sir. We'll be glad to help ya out. We'll make sure buck-nobody gets their hands on that Head of Squid Lady, and catch'em for ya. RIght all?"

Her team gave a confirming nod in unison.

The Jellyfish wobbled about. His excited eyes betraying the fear he had inside of him. "Great! Just great! Oh I can't thank you enough. My boss is coming to inspect the place, and my caboose is good as tempura if she finds out. Hehe...n-no worries, though! I-it'll be fine! JUuuust fine!"

"...Um...sir?"

"It's nothing!" came the Jelly's crazed response, "The cafeteria is opened to you freely for food while you watch over the place. In the meantime, I'm gonna go see my therapist. Bye!" With that, he ran off.

"...That guy got some deep rooted psychological issues," a confused Sandbar commented.

Tortuga snapped her fingers. "Not important right now. Let's fill up on food from the cafeteria and get to our posts."

From there, they entered the Academy. Once they were in, a pair of eyes that been staring at the group from a bush made a rustle. "There they go...this will be our chance to-ow! Marsha, stop kicking me!"

"Oh, sorry Brooke. But I just couldn't take my eyes off those hunky squids...ow!"

A slap came from the bush. "While you aren't wrong, Marsha, we need to focus. And by the way, I have dibs on the nerd, he'll be mine by tomorrow."

"Not if I snag him first. I need a good boy to cook and clean while I'm on missions!"

"Pff, don't we all..."


	8. Picture Perfect

The squad had fully taken up their positions within the Academy. Having been through every aspect of the main art room, the one they needed to protect and watch over, the 4 sets of eyes were keen on catching whoever was stealing these precious works.

"Ahh, this is such a cultured facility," Trident said while leaning back on a chair in the grand art room, "full of so many artistic works of...art! It's so much fun to visualize what sort of great minds can put on a blank canvas."

For once, Sandbar couldn't help but agree with his intellectual companion. "...I gotta admit yer kinda right. Seein' them sculptures were pretty cool too."

"Pff, thure..." Once more, the deep blue girl rolled her eyes, "The Abthract room is complete carp. Anybody can just spit and make a mess on some paper and call it art."

"...Grrr..." Trident gave an exasperated mumble. "Ravine. While I can't say you're right or wrong, as art is in the eye of the beholder, can you please stop complaining about it already? We're on a small task here that needs our focus."

"Hmph..."

The dark purple leader interrupted them. "Alright, does everyone remember the plan? Sandbar and I will keep watch at the entrance and the exit. Meanwhile, you two stay here and guard the Squid Lady painting itself. Got it?"

Without hesitation, each inkling gave a nod.

"Alright, let's move!" Tortuga shouted, leaving the room with Sandbar to cover their respective spots.

Which left Trident and Ravine on their own.

* * *

About an hour passed by. The two silently checking around, and covering the area when they had to head to the bathroom. But by then, the blue girl's patience had run dry.

"Pbbbt..." she blew a raspberry, ink flying from her mouth. "Thith is soooo boring...why couldn't we be staking out an abandoned mine shafth?"

The cyan boy rolled his eyes while dusting off a painting. "Ugh, no respect as usual. You wouldn't last a day as a student in this institution."

"Uh, no-doy! Why ya think I'm bored?" She took out her Squidphone, swiping the screen in a feverish manner, "No mentions on Squitter, Fishbook, Finstagram...nothing!"

"Shh...quiet. Do you want to tip the enemy of our location?" Trident scolded her, folding his arms.

"No. I'm justh trying to entertain myself in thith uttery boring plathe. There'th nothing worth my time here other than maybe some cute sculptureth here and there," Ravine complained as she kept swiping through her phone.

No response came from the boy. Naught but a mere sigh as he resumed dusting off the pieces of artwork lining the walls.

* * *

Another hour passed.

Trident was sitting in a chair across the room from Ravine. "You know...I never expected her to come back. Tory, I mean."

"Hm...yeah you're right. I honethly thought she would've made Agent 5 but...we know how that went."

He nodded in agreement. "Yes...I can't imagine what horrors she must've went through while training. Not to mention..." Trident looked up at the ceiling, a state of wonder on his face. "I wonder who outdid her and actually managed to be Agent 5 if she didn't..."

The thought of someone tougher, and stronger than Tortuga made Ravine shudder. "Brrr...no, I don't want that image thankth."

"Heh. It seems like just yesterday we were watching her leave for training..."

Ravine giggled, before a sudden thought popped into her inky head. "OH. I've been meaning to askth, but have you made any progressth on finding that Atlantisth kingdom?"

"Oh that? Nah, I've given up on that. It's been proven that Atlantis is sort of impossible to find. And I don't have the funds for a submersible at the moment." He gave a dejected sigh. "So for the moment, I'm simply running the library downtown."

"Oh..."

Trident then responded with a rare, wide grin. "Ah, don't worry about it too much. I'm sure you've had more success with your own endeavors." The grin faded as quick as it had appeared. A thought had invaded his own mind next. "Oh yes, speaking of which. I remember you saying you were able to afford those Z-Stripes due to working long hours at the cafe. How is that going?"

A blush tinged her cheeks. The subject matter causing her to stutter. "Oh um...it'th...fine..."

"Based on my calculations, the average waitress doesn't get pair that much so quickly. EVen with hours like that."

Now Ravine had began sweating a tad. "Oh...well um...I get tipped a lot."

This caused Trident to raise an eyebrow. "...Really? That's...pretty cool I must admit."

"Yeah well...ya know. Ya get fans here and there and they give you extra money."

The cyan kid wasn't believing all of it, but he also didn't wish to pressure her any further. "Alright, well...so long as it's-"

"My boss makes me dress in outfits themed after the Splatfests," Ravine interrupted him, before going on a non-stop rant. "For the Ketchup vs Mayo one, I had to put on this red dress for the latter and this white snowsuit for the former. For Vampire vs Werewolf I had to dress in a suit of each monster, and for the upcoming Retro vs Modern my boss is gonna have me dress as a hippie and a DJ respectively."

Trident's jaw dropped. His eyes growing wide as dinner plates. The images of Ravine dressed in those outfits sent him all sorts of mixed signals. "...Oh...so that's why your boss keeps you as a server and doesn't promote you."

"Gah...it's so annoying! Everyone that comes in keeps talking about how cute I look, but there's no way that's true!" She made a pouty face while folding her arms. "I wanna quit so bad, but it makes me so much money..."

"Sounds like a true dilemma. Personally, I would tell your boss what you feel and demand a raise as well as a higher position. You shouldn't feel forced to stay in one place if you don't want to. Especially since you've been working there for well over a year now. It's quite simple."

"Y-yeah I know but...I don't wanna get fired," came her nervous reply.

"If that happens, you can simply get employed elsewhere," Trident responded in a firm tone, "I won't stand by and let you feel boxed into an uncomfortable position. I'll even go in with you tomorrow."

She looked up at her friend, giving a small smile. "Really? You'd do that...?"

"Indubitably."

She got up from her seat and threw her arms around him. Hugging onto him tightly. "...Thankth, Trident. You always know how to get to the point when it cometh to thingsth like thith."

He gave a chuckle. "Haha. I try my best to bring out the best in everyone. Even if it means being called a nuisance on occasion..."

It was Ravine's turn to laugh. "Pssh! You're not annoying! People just don't take time to underthand your geniusth!"

Hearing that made him pause. "Oh...I see...heh...that's the first time someone's given me an unironic compliment in...forever."

"Ooh, are ya blushin'?"

"No! I just-it's cold in here so my cheeks are adapting to the environment!"

Ravine teased him with a toothy grin on her face. However, as the two were enjoying each other's company, they could hear a rattling in the vents above them.

"..."

Their attention was stolen by it, Trident putting his index finger over his lips to say they should stay silent.

A few more bangs and rattles from above, and the vent grate dropped to the floor. The two inklings readying their Charger and Brella respectively...


	9. Search and Rescue

Silence. Once the ventilation grate hit the floor, the two inklings couldn't hear so much as another peep.

"Hrm..." Trident moved forward, looking up at the now broken vent. "Must've been some faulty bolting." He turned, looking at Ravine, "Nothing here, really."

"Look out!" She shouted out of nowhere while pointing up.

Trident looked to his side, a weird looking splat bomb that was letting out fumes of pink gas into the air. This made it difficult to breathe, as their ink colors were clashing with it.

Trident yelled, "Get down!" and made a break for his Charger. Grasping it in hand, and taking aim. "Gah...dangit." Unfortunately for him, the thickness of the ink cloud was making it nearly impossible to see. "Ravine, follow my voice. Hey Sandbar, Tortuga get over here!" The boy clung to the floor, holding his breath while the pink gas cloud floated above.

Silence once more. Even after calling out the names of his companions, neither came to his aid. This included Ravine, who didn't respond either, much to the suspicion of the cyan squid.

"Oh no..."

The sounds of giggling resonated in the vents above; the gas clearing out of the room in the same moment. Something indeed had been stolen from the room, but it wasn't the painting of a Squid woman they had been there to defend.

"Ravine?!" Trident fell into a panic. His eyes darting back and forth as he tried to locate his friend to no avail. His only answer was a note that had fallen to the ground from the vent above.

We've had our eyes on you for a while. Why don't you come pay us a visit so we can have some fun together? That boring lisp squid has nothing compared to what we can offer you.

Super Jump to her location; which should be mansion in Octo Canyon if Marsha remembers the flipping directions.

Oh and come by yourself. We sealed the doors and vents of the art room shut so you can't alert your other friends. Perform exactly one Super Jump or she gets it. We've always wanted to see what happens when an Inkling tries to drink Octoling ink. Trust me, we have eyes everywhere so don't try and do anything funny. Oh and leave your Charger here. K thanks!

His eyes traveled along each word of the note, and they slowly contorted into a squinting grimace of anger. "Those insignificant ingrates...cantankerousni canker sores...forgettable floozies!"

To make sure they weren't lying, he looked left, right. Both doors to the art room he was in had been sealed shut with electrified pink ink. Rendering him unable to exit and alert his companions of what was occuring.

Just as well, outside of a window there were red lasers that he could see bearing into his own retinas. They were indeed watching his every move.

He put his Charger down. "Blast it...I don't have time for this," he mumbled under his breath while climbing out of the window. Once outside on the dead of night, he could see even more lasers locking onto his position than before. There was no chance of trying to escape now.

With a pained sigh, he turned into his squid form, and made a huge leap...

* * *

After about a full minute of airtime, Trident had finally landed the jump. The note was correct in its description, for he landed outside of a large, pink mansion with eight floors, eight sets of windows, eight sets of gates surrounding it, and eight different sets of shrubbery in the garden.

"Gah, really going there with the theme aren't we..." Trident mused while attempting to think up a strategy for approaching. "...Grr...no point in standing here forever. Today's plan is have no plan." From there, he simply walked up to the gate, and slipped through via squid form.

* * *

Meanwhile inside...

"You'll never get away with thith!" Ravine hissed from behind a cage made of pink ink that sat in the corner of an entertainment room. There was a wide screen TV on the wall, and several bean bag chairs lying around.

The Octoling troops from earlier walked up to the cage. "Ah, relax. We aren't gonna hurt you." The taller one, Brooke said, "We know your boyfriend is gonna come to save you."

The shorter Octoling, Marsha spoke next. "Yeah, and we're gonna make him want us more than he'll ever want you right before your eyes! Isn't that fun?!" She said while clasping her hands together with a dreamy smile. "That sky blue squid is so cute!"

"WHAT?!" Ravine was grabbing onto the bars, her feet pressed against them to hoist her up akin to a primate. "First off, he is not my boyfriend. He's rude, always takes too long to explain things, and he's completely annoying!"

Brooke shot back with a wide grin, her serrated teeth displaying her malice. "You don't think I know that? I'd splat everything to have a boy like that."

Marsha gave a teasing giggle. "He's gonna wanna stay with us forever. And you'll regret treating him the way you do!"

"...Wait...excuse me?" This left Ravine confounded. In all her time, she thought she was treating her friend with as much respect as possible. "I...I don't understand."

Marsha left the room momentarily, leaving Brooke to do the explaining. "Oh please. Don't act like you'd simply rather not be corrected. Nobody does, so instead you all force him to shut up when it's convenient for you." Her twisted smile cut through the Inkling's very being, "Isn't that right, little miss cute lisp?"

"I...we only tell him to be quiet when he goes on and on..." Ravine let go of the bars. "...but I never really did ask how he felt."

"Nope, you didn't. And you should feel bad."

Marsha returned, carrying a tray of brownies with oven mitts. "We stole all that art to lure you guys out. Modern art is worthless to us! All we want is a nice boy who can cook and clean for us while we're out doing work. Is that too much to ask? IS IT?"

There was a pause. Ravine took some time to reflect on their statements. "...No, I guess it isn't."

"Thought so." Brooke grabbed a brownie and put it on a small plate. She then pushed it through the bars towards the captive inkling. "Here, try this. It's the only thing we can cook without blowing up the HQ so we need someone to taste it. If it's good enough, we can keep the boy here for life~!"

She sighed. Not having eaten in a while was taking a toll on her, so why not? "Okay." And she munched the brown dessert. Nibbling on it greedily before shoving the rest in her face. "YO. That is awesome. But it could use a bit more sugar. Maybe some cinnamon, nutmeg..."

The Octolings stared at each other, and smirked.

* * *

Back outside...

"Okay, this should be simple..." Trident had removed the hair pin that was keeping his ponytail in place with intent to pick the lock. "Thank cod for those advanced classes on escaping..."

Once the lock was fully tampered with, a security system went off!

Blaring sirens and screeching noises rattled his ears, making him cover them. "Agh! Ow!" A blinding red light was cast onto his position, and an electronic voice from the security system began speaking.

 **UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS. STATE YOUR NAME OR BE SPLATTED.**

He cleared his throat, and tried to pull off his best impression. "Uhh...um...DJ Octavio?"

 **VOICE RECOGNIZED. ACCESS GRANTED.**

"Whew...that was close..." he took a moment to breathe until...

 **SYKE HOMIE.**

Without warning, a laser lined up with Trident's body. A powerful beam of pink ink splatting him where he stood. The squid's ghostly form flying off as a result.

It returned to the point where he landed, just outside the mansion gate in a puddle of his own ink, wincing at the pain the shot had brought him. "Grrch...need...a new plan..."


	10. Heading In

"Huh? What was that?" The taller Octoling's attention was grabbed by the noise of the security system outside, followed by the sound of someone getting splatted. "Hmm..." Suspicious, she went to the front door to take a look outside. "Hello?"

To her right, she could see the cyan inkling attempting to break through one of the walls of the mansion by spitting his ink onto it. Because it clashed with the pink ink used to pain the house, it started to erode the surface which left a gaping hole. "Heh, easy..."

"Hey!" She called out to him, which startled the inkling, causing him to jump.

"Woah!" He fell to the ground, but didn't try and run. Being splatted was almost inevitable if he did.

"That was pretty smart of ya. Coughing up ink like that gives it a corrosive property that can make it go through other ink. Nice job~"

"Wha...?" Trident was perplexed. Unable to comprehend the fact that a girl was giving him such praise over something so trivial. "...Um...that isn't important. I'm here for my friend!"

"Oh yeah, she's right inside. Don't worry, we didn't hurt her." She giggled and beckoned him with her index finger. "Cmon, we won't bite or anything. I'm Brooke by the way~"

His eyes narrowed to an upset squint as he followed her inside. Albeit begrudgingly so. "...Hmph. Trident. And can we hurry this up, please? I am not in the mood for silly games."

Brooke quickly pushed the door shut behind him. "Aw, but we need to test you to make sure you're a good pick~"

"Test? Uch, excuse me? What for?" He held his head high. Trying his best to avoid being deceived by their actions.

From across the room, the shorter Octoling called out. "Ya can start by cookin' us dinner!" She was sitting in front of the cage where the inkling girl was held captive. However, they weren't being hostile. Instead, they were looking over a magazine together.

"Now why would I-wait, Ravine?"

"Stho, you guyth could really do better by ditching sthome of that black leather. It'th out of sthyle and boyth aren't into that sthuff as much."

Trident made a beeline as he ran over to the small prison in the corner of the room. "Ravine? Are you hurt? Did they do anything to you?"

She responded with an unexpected grin. "Nah. They're just lookin' for a guy to help them around the housthe, but I told them you weren't on the market!"

"Nonsense!" Marsha rose to her feet, and started poking Trident along his arms and legs. "We need a guy like this. He's not too thick, or thin. And he's a nerd too!"

The boy's cheeks grew a tint of red. The contact with the more mature looking Octoling girl causing him no shortage of discomfort. "Um...c-can you not, please?"

"Aw, what's wrong? Catfish got your tongue?" Brooke brought him in for a close hug. Due to her being a tad taller than him, he was only at the level of her neck as she put both of her arms around his head. "Don't you want a nice girl that'll actually point out what you do correctly for once?"

From behind the bars, Ravine stood, becoming upset. "Hey, hey! Let him go!"

He started to sweat, his lips quivered, and his eyes darting back and forth. The embrace was making restless. Trident did his best to push away, but was soon sandwiched in from the other side by Marsha.

"Staaaay with us! Ain't nobody back home seems like they care about you so why bother, right?" Her arms clutched tightly around his waits to keep him from squirming.

This made Ravine even more angry, now clutching the bars and hissing at the two. "I said let him go! He doesn't like that!"

The insufferable amount of close contact with the girls made his entire facial complexion turn a shade of crimson. After a few moments, he would turn pale, and a ghostly version of himself would escape his mouth.

All the while, Ravine gave the bars a violent shake, in a bid to tip the cage over. "LEAVE HIM ALONE!"

"But why? We're about to get to the best part~"

The Octo pair set Trident down on the carpet, followed by the both of them getting on their knees.

"Truth or square!"

Both inklings gave a fearful, "What?!"

"Only a bit different," Marsha explained, "We'll be asking you all the questions, and if you lie on any of them that's one hour you have to do whatever we say. And it keeps going. But if you answer truthfully, then we may consider letting you both go."

Brooke pressed a button on a remote. "And just to make sure you won't lie..." The button would remove a panel of the flooring beneath Trident, displaying a tub of water filled with hungry Salmonoids. The clear glass kept him falling in...for now. "There. Now, you ready?"

As he sat between the two Octolings, Trident was visibly shaking in place. Beads of sweat running off his body as if he was made of oil. The boy too nervous to give a proper response.

"Grrr...he'll face up to whatever you two got!" Ravine shouted from her prison and jumped onto the bars once more. "Trident's never backed down from a challenge he knows he can win. He's even managed to splat someone from 100 yards away! And he's been able to devise 20 different tactics in the worst of situations! He's already figured out how to beat you both and bust me outta here, so try him!"

"Oh? He's a tough one? Then he'll be even better for us!" Marsha simply took it as a challenge.

"Ahem..." The girl's words helped boost his confidence. After having calmed down, and fixing his glasses, he gave his trademark confident grin. "...What's the first question?"

Brooke was first. "Alright big one first: Do you really like this girl?"

"Cuz if you don't, that means you're totally open," Marsh said while licking her lips.

After a pause, Trident nodded once. "Of course I do, we're friends of course. Next question."

The Octolings exchanged a brief serrated grin with each other before the resumed their little game.

"Alrighty, why aren't you excited about us? I mean, we Octoling girls are clearly better looking than Inkling girls,"

Ravine ground her teeth together.

"Is there something wrong with ya upstairs?"

The boy responded with giving an annoyed groan. "Ugh...capturing my friend doesn't make me like you. Next. And by the way, I've played games of Truth or Square in grade school that were more juicy than this."

Marsha responded with a smirk. "Okay, smarty-pants. Then we wanna know something really juicy about you."

"Are you really that intelligent? Or do you just pretend to be that way so you can try to make yourself feel more important?" Brooke asked, "Because I've seen your type before, always with the spectacle gear, trying to look like you're the cute, nerdy boy from down the all. I could be wrong, but I wanna hear it from you."

"No lying~" the shorter one added.

This was the question that caught Trident off his guard. Silent, the boy was. He looked up, down, and over to Ravine. But alas, there was no other choice for him to make.

"Ugh..." A heavy sigh exited his mouth, "I...I don't know. I like to think I'm as smart as I can possibly be, and do my best to come up with plans for everything we do. But it gets annoying when others don't listen and constantly try to do what they want."

The taller Octoling put on a sympathetic tone, and gave a wink to her partner. "Well...maybe it's because you're trying to constantly push those plans onto them, and they don't wanna hear you talk all the time. Trust me, I feel the same exact thing when my troop leader barks orders constantly."

She quickly received the plan idea from her friend, and joined in. "Uhh...yeah. It's a matter of knowing when to swallow your pride and be more active with everyone. Otherwise you end up sounding condescending. Like my mom!"

"...Huh..."

"I mean, it's just a matter of knowing when to listen to others. But you know what? We forgive you," Brooke went on, "If everyone kept telling you to just shut up without giving a reason, it'd just fuel you to be more and more arrogant because you think no one listens. It's a vicious cycle."

Marsha sat closer to Trident, giving him a pat on the head. "But we're listening to you. I bet we're the first ones to actually take time and hear you out rather than push you away ain't we?"

The cyan boy didn't give much of a response outside a simple nod.

"C'mon. Let us listen to some more of your problems," Brooke added while sitting on the other side of him, "We promise to actually take an objective view instead of shutting you up."

Ravine meanwhile, had been listening to the entire conversation. Much to her surprise, what they were saying wasn't incorrect. _"...Have...have I just been pushing him away all this time?Even when we were little? Did I never tell him how I really felt...?"_


	11. Heading Out

"Listen, I normally don't do this, but I appreciate your sentiments. I can't blame my friends for how I act."

The taller Octoling shook her head, trying to get him to sway his opinion. "No way! So long as you know what's wrong, you can start to ax out whatever else is causing you troubles."

"No, no...while it is true that they may not have been listening, it was my own stuck-up nonsense that caused it in the first place. Now I'm starting to realize why Sandbar and I argue so often."

Both Octolings got anxious. Their intentions to make him stay somehow had become less and less viable. Of the two, Marsha was the more restless one. "Hey, hey! You're supposed to-mmph!"

A quick swipe of the hand, and Brooke covered her friend's mouth to keep her from speaking. "What she means is...we are glad we were able to help you. We also apologize for taking those pieces of art from the Academy, and will gladly return them."

"Mm..." Trident rose to his feet. And without a word, went into the kitchen.

Both Octolings, and the imprisoned Inkling gave a perplexed set of stares.

About ten minutes passed before the Octolings could smell delicious food coming from the kitchen.

"This way." Trident called to them both. It didn't take long for them to arrive as the smell was captivating enough to draw their immediate attention. "In exchange for letting my friend and I walk free, I present to you slow roasted Salmonoid fillet with steamed veggies. Do you accept?"

Their drooling was enough of an answer. Brooke pressed a button that disengaged the bars around the cage Ravine was in. Having dined on nothing but rations exchanged between them for so long, the real food was undoubtedly welcomed by the two octo girls. In an instant, they were ravaging the plates made for them.

Now free, Ravine ran out and embraced her fellow squid with a tight hug. "Hehehe! That'th my dude! Alwayth coming up with plansth!"

He accepted the hug, and wrapped his arms around her to return the gesture. "Yes, well...I can see they haven't eaten decently in a while, so I figured why not help them out?"

She let him go, looking astonished at what he said. "Are you seriouth? They're our enemyth!"

"Yeah, but not willingly," he explained while watching the two girls nearly destroy their plates from afar, "they didn't choose this life. And while there are Octolings that live perfectly in society alongside us, there's still many of them who are victim to DJ Octavio's control. It's...sickening really."

"...You're not even upset that they captured me?"

"I was, but they did it to lure me in. Since the Elite Octolings are all female, they pretty much only know each other. Honestly, there's no real solution while they're all under DJ O's control." He folded his arms and closed his eyes. He was putting some hard thought on something. "Do me a favor, and gather up the art they stole. I have something I need to do."

Both Octolings meanwhile, had gotten their fill. They were knocked out cold from how much it sated them.

Ravine took a moment before moving. There was no doubt she was confused, but she always knew Trident had some sort of plan ahead. So she didn't bother arguing, and went to collect the pieces of art.

Once she was gone, Trident slipped his hand into the sleeping Brooke's pocket, swiping her Octophone. He used it to find a piece of music, but the rounded shape made it awkward for him to hold compared to the more sleek Squidphone. "Ugh, what is with these phone companies and their irritating designs? Every year it's just a re-release of the same thing with no differences."

Once he found the music track he was looking for, he turned it on, and set the phone on the table.

"There..."

Once they had both gathered the stolen artwork, Ravine and Trident exited the mansion together.

"I totally saw what you did back there," she said with a beaming smirk.

"Um...what?"

"You went on GooTube with her phone and turned on the Calamari Inkantation. When they wake up, they'll probably use their intenseth training to sneak outta there." She gave a tiny giggle. "You didn't have to do that, but you did anyway. Why?"

A pause lingered in the air before the cyan boy gave his response. "I...don't know. But I feel like it boils down to sympathy for them. They clearly want someone they can latch onto for comfort. Sadly I know I'm not capable enough for that, but when they get to Inkopolis, I'm pretty sure it won't take long for them to make friends."

"Mm, makesth senseth! Though, I'm kinda jealous..."

He gave her a concerned look. "Why?"

"Becauseth! You never cooked food like that for me...or any of usth! I wanna taste your skills too!"

Trident blushed. Taking the compliment in stride. "Well...yeah I suppose I could make some stuff for you...all that is. Just tell me what you'd like and I can try my best."

Ravine responded with a teasing smile, "Well how about you make me a nice dinner at your place, then we'll talk~" She then added a wiggle of her eyebrows.

This caused the redness on Trident's cheeks to deepen by a shade. "Wh-what...?"

"Just teasin'!" Ravine stuck out her tongue and ran ahead of him. "C'mon! We need to get back to Sandbar and Tory before they think we ran off together or something!"

In response, the boy grumbled to himself. "...Grr...stupid Ravine and her stupid games."

This case was closed.


	12. Case Arc 2: The Visitor

Once the events of the stolen art exhibit were over, the Investigation Crew met up in Tortuga's garage once more. All four of them gathered at a table.

"Good job ya'll," the dark violet girl rejoiced, "we got all them paintin's bac k and now our Jellyfish friend won't be fired!"

Sandbar looked at Trident. "What took ya'll so long out there, huh?" A smirk grew on his face. Referencing the amount of time he and Ravine were on their own. "We're ya'll out there havin; fun without us?"

In response, the spectacled boy turned his head upwards. "Your ignorance is as amusing as ever."

"Suuur-ow."

That was when Ravine kicked Sandbar from under the table. "Oopsth, my foot slipped~"

"So I just checked the news," Tortuga interjected, "and apparently Inkopolis is gonna be visited by someone special." The others listened in close for what she had to say, "A famous explorer by the name of Laura Fishbourne is arriving tomorrow."

Both Sandbar and Trident rose out of their seats to give a resounding "WHAT?" The boys then proceeded to get out of their chairs and jump around the room out of pure excitement.

The scream was so loud that it shocked Ravine, making her lose her balance in her seat and fall over. "Woah!"

"Oh my gosh she's coming! This is gonna be awesome!"

"I hope she'll sign my miniature submarine! This is gonna be the best day ever!"

Ravine glanced at the two excited inkling boys. Eyeing them up as if they were crazy. "Uh...who'th that?"

"WHO IS THAT?" Sandbar yelled his response, almost offended by Ravine's lack of knowledge on the subject. "She's the only person that's ever been all over the entire world and survive! She's possibly the toughest thing alive!"

Even Trident gave a rare swoon at the prospect of meeting said explorer. "Oh my...I can't believe she's going to arrive here. I'm hoping she could give me advice on locating Atlantis. This is going to be so exciting! I have to head home right now and clean up to make myself presentable!"

Ravine placed her elbow on the table, resting her cheek on her palm. "Hm, soundsth like you guys have a common idol."

Before Trident could move, the call of Tortuga stopped him in his tracks. "Hold on ya'll. Ya haven't even heard what the case is about. Apparently somebody's been stalkin' her recently, so she asked us to watch the area."

"WHAT?!" Once more, the boys screamed at the top of their lungs, causing Ravine to fall out of her chair once more.

"She wants us to watch out for her? That is an honor beyond comprehension!" exclaimed Trident.

Sandbar shared his level of excitement, nudging his friend. "Aw heck yeah! Now we'll be guaranteed to talk to her buddy!"

"Indeed. Now that we know the details of our assignment, let's all head home and prepare ourselves, shall we?"

"Ugh...fine. Go." Tortuga sighed. There was no way she could stop the two now that they were on such a rush of excitement. As the boys left with their excitable chatter, she turned to notice a more cynical looking Ravine. "Somethin' wrong?"

"Hm? Oh, nothing. It'th just...Tri's never mentioned Laura Fishbourne to me before. I haven't heard of her either."

"In all fairness, ya tend to fall asleep standin' up whenever he tries to talk to ya about his explorin' hobbies. So he doesn't wanna bore ya methinks."

"Oh..." Ravine frowned, "I guessth that'th fair. I really should pay more attention to him."

Her dark purple friend gave her a pat on the back. "Hey, ain't no sweat alright? Tomorrow we just focus on the case, yeah?"

"Mm...yeah, you're right."

* * *

Later that night...

The boys were still going on about their idol, talking over their Squidphones from their houses.

"...so yeah. That's why we need to make sure every angle of the Square is covered. She could have numerous findings to share that we could both benefit from!"

Sandbar responded, "Yeah, I agree. Since my uh...business has been tankin' lately."

"...Say what?"

"Well..." Sandbar stared at his laptop. On the screen were several offer listings including scuba gear, parts of an old pirate ship, and engraved stone tablets. "Ain't nobody interested in what I've been findin' on them shores over by the beach. Startin' to run dry."

"Ah...I thought you were doing well at one point. Having a business where you refurbish and resell items that run aground sounds very lucrative. Especially since most of it could be from the remains of human society."

"Exactly!" Sandbar closed his laptop, and flopped back onto his bed. "Not to mention I don't even have a clue about some of the things I got here, but maybe the people I sell it to understand the value of some of the things I got. Sadly, that don't seem to be the case right now."

"Mmhmm...well this is our chance. Bring some of your items for Laura to take a look at, and maybe she'll know just where you can make money off them," Trident explained, and gave a chuckle, "Haha. Who knows? She may even buy them off you herself!"

The bright yellow inkling's eyes shot open, and he sat up. "...WOah...bro I think ya got somethin' there! That's a great idea!"

"Hehe...well, given the chance we have, it's important to make use of it."

It was Sandbar's turn to chuckle. "Pffhaha! WHat, no 'Of course it is.' or 'Naturally.' this time?"

"Silence, you." Trident rolled his eyes. "And hurry and get some rest. A gentleman with bags under his eyes isn't presentable now is he?"

"Heh, naw. See in the mornin'."

"See ya."

They hung up their phones. Sandbar placed it on his nightstand next to the lit candle. With a sigh, he blew out the flame before lying down to rest. "I sure hope she likes what I got..."


	13. First Contact

The next day, Sandbar would hear a rapid knocking on his door. "C'mon, man! Get up! You're late! Again!"

The yellow inkling in question rolled off of his bed, as lazy as can be. "Ughhh..." It took him a moment to rise to his feet, in a zombie-like state while being hunched over, and his eyes bloodshot. "Coming..."

When Sandbar opened the door, Trident was there. "Dear me...you look absolutely ragged, brosef. What's going on?" He walked into the messy apartment, closing the door behind himself. "You've got all these artifacts laying about when they could easily make you tons of money."

"I dunno man, I think I just ain't got no motivation today." Sandbar said while flopping onto his bed once more.

It didn't take long for Trident to realize what exactly his best friend's living were. What with all the aforementioned objects strewn about the floor, as well as the lack of other basic essentials. "Whew...is it me or..." Trident said while pulling the collar of his shirt. Beads of sweat ran down his head. "is it hot in here? And what's with that candle next to your bed?"

In response, the bright yellow inkling put a pillow over his face to groan into it. "...Behind on the rent n' stuff."

"Oh no..." He walked to his friend's bedside, and sat down next to him. "Well, look...this clearly isn't working out for you, and you don't have enough space to reasonably live and handle your business. So for the moment, I insist that you stay with me."

"...Tri, I'm not gonna-"

The cyan inkling was firm. "No ifs, ands, or buts. You will stay with me until you can make enough money to afford more healthy living conditions for yourself. Even if I have to drag you all the way over there myself. Understand?"

Sandbar could only muster a nod.

"Good. Now come along. We have to make ourselves presentable for Ms. Fishburne."

Sandbar shot up like a splat bomb from a launcher. "OH YEAH! I gotta put on mah best lookin' gear!" In a flash of yellow, he scrambled to his feet, making a beeline for the closet. Unfortunately the messy floor caused him to trip several times before bowling his way into the cramp clothing corner. "Ow!"

"Ugh..." Trident grabbed the bridge of his nose.

* * *

Once Sandbar had found something more proper to wear-a black hoodie and a nice pair of sneakers-they were off to meet up with the other half of their team.

"So where we headin'?"

"To the O.K. Coral Cafe where Ravine works. It's where Laura plans to stop first so we'll all be meeting there."

"Gotcha. Heh, maybe now we'll finally get to see what exactly Ravine has to do on the job."

Trident took that into consideration, and gave a nod. "...Hm. Yes, I am curious as well."

The two arrived at the outside of the cafe. It was confined to a plaza with other shops nearby. As they went inside, they saw the tables were mostly empty, sans a few pairs of cephalopod kids here and there. It was a small, linear cafe with three rows of booths and a stools at the counter. To which both boys took their seats.

Next to them on another stool, Tortuga was waiting.

"Finally. Cod knows when she'll show up, ya know? Ravine's in the back washin' dishes so she'll be out in a sec."

Sandbar gave a nod. "Got it. Honestly, I'm pretty excited," he said with a wide grin on his face, "I can't wait to see all the things she's found on her trips around the world. SHe's so darn brave it's amazin'!"

"I concur. It's rare you find someone who's willing to dive into such perilous territory for the sake of pleasure. And it has me just as excited too."

Their lispy blue friend finally made her way to the counter to join them. "Eh, I'll be the judge of that. Something sthill soundsth off about her."

"Calm down, Raves. You won't know til ya meet her," Tortuga commented.

A few moments later, a figure would walk into the cafe with a hoodie over their head and a pair of tinted shades that obscured their face from being seen. They soon arrived at the front counter next to the three who were sitting there and looked at Ravine. "Do you have any...kelp shakes?"

Ravine visibly flinched upon hearing this order, but went to make it regardless. "Eugh...haven't made one of thosthe in a while. Comin' right up."

"Hm..." Due to overhearing the order, Trident looked up at ceiling with his usual grimace of thought plastered on his face.

"Somethin' wrong?" Sandbar asked.

"No no, it's just...kelp shakes are notoriously gross, and there's only one person I know who enjoys them."

It clicked in Sandbar's mind. "Oh yeah-I remember Laura made 'em while she was stranded at sea. I saw it on her web series, man is she tough or what?"

"So I do have some fans that pay attention?" The figured pulled the hood down. Revealing the blobby head of an elegant ping-pong sea sponge. She let more of her form show, including her smooth legs, and well-rounded, curvy figure. "I was hoping I'd meet you here today...are you the Investigation Crew?"

The boy's jaws hit the floor. Unable to believe the fact that their idol was directly before them. The multi-headed blob woman's slender figure had an air of humility around herself. Something both Sandbar and Trident were frozen by.

"Um...hello?"

They both remained frozen for a few more seconds before ultimately tilting off the side of their seats, and hitting the floor like rocks.

Tortuga slapped her forehead with her palm. "...Darin't guys! My bad, miss. They aren't usually like this." The dark purple girl jumped out of her seat, and grabbed both of the unconscious boys by the shirt. She then proceeded to shake them around like ragdolls. "Get up ya pieces of carp!"

At last Ravine returned, placing the kelp shake in front of her customer. She got a look for who 'Laura' really was. "Woah! Holy carp!"

"Is there something wrong?" The sea sponge lady asked before sipping from her drink. "Mm...delicious. Just like the ones I used to make while sailing across the old Atlantic. Ah, Salmonoids were a pain..."

"...You're nothing like I thought at firsth."

"Mm...well, I do like to make good first impressions." She gazed at Tortuga, who was still shaking the sleeping boys around. "...So you four are the team I've been hearing about. How...quaint."

Once they were thoroughly shaken, Sandbar and Trident's eyes both flickered open.

"...Uh..ahem." They had both come to their senses, and fought back the urge to fanboy over her. "My apologies. We both...had a lack of sleep last night."

She let out a small giggle. "Oh no need to hide your feelings. However, I'm hoping you could put it aside for the assignment I need you all for."

Sandbar returned to his seat. "What's the issue, ma'am? Tory said ya had some issue with a stalker?"

"Well...yes. Though, not so much a stalker. More like...a hunter."

Despite her ill feelings of her earlier, Ravine was more willing to listen. Leaning forward on the counter to get a better understanding. "...Hunter? Someone wants you...gone?"

Laura nodded, causing her blobby heads to jiggle around. "I want you all to...keep a watch over me for the duration of my visit. And if possible, catch the person trying to hunt me. Is that alright?"

Tortuga was the first to answer, "No problem! Anythin' for someone my guys respect!"

"Agreed! Nobody shall be harrassthed in thisth town!"

The boys gave their response in unison. "Yes ma'am!"

"Mm...good." Laura forced her blobby heads back under the hoodie, and put the shades on once more. "I'll be at New Albacore Hotel. Thank you so much..."

The four of them all smiled and waved as she left.

Once she did, both Sandbar and Trident held hands and began jumping for joy. "Aw yeah ya'll! She totally likes us!"

"While I normally try to avoid being outwardly simplistic with my emotions...I can't deny that this is flipping awesome! Laura actually gave us attention!"

They both stood up and began dancing around together. "I gotta get her to sign my shirts!"

"And I need her to sign my tentacle!"

"Aaand done~" While they were both enjoying themselves, Ravine had recorded the entire display on her Squidphone. "Now to post on Squitter..." she said with a teasing smile as her tongue stuck out of her mouth.

Their jaws hit the floor yet again.

"OH HECK NAW-Ravine ya better not!" Sandbar shouted.

Trident's face turned a shade of red as he composed himself. Fixing his glasses, he grumbled. "I'd recommend you abstain, Ravine."

"Can't caaaatch me~!" The inkling girl didn't send it. However, she ran back behind the counter towards the cafe storage room.

"Gah, get back here!"

"The insolence!"

The boys yelled and ran after her. Leaving Tortuga on her own. All she did was chuckle to herself and sip from her cup. "Aaaand another case begins."


	14. Arrival

The team arrived at New Albacore Hotel.

"Woah..." Sandbar's eyes lit up at the glamourous hotel lobby. Soft red carpet, gleaming chandeliers, and a plethora of rooms to choose from.

"Isn't it cool?" Trident stepped forward. "The remodel was a success I see. Now all we need to do is locate Ms. Fishbourne's room and check into rooms that are nearby." His eyes shifted onto the reception desk. "Wait here while I go check." He then made his way towards the front desk.

Meanwhile, Sandbar was still in awe at the high quality of the hotel. "Man...I ain't never seen such high end stuff before."

"Heh-well we usually battle on the roof where the pool is. Nobody eva' really comes inside, unless they visitin'." Tortuga replied, "And hey now, that reminds me. Trident was sayin' somethin' about lettin' ya stay with him for the next few days. What's goin' on?"

"Oh well..." he rubbed the back of his head. "I'm...kinda in a rough spot right now...with money. No one's really buyin' the stuff I've been sellin' online..."

"Oh...sorry to hear that. So is that why he offered you to stay at his place?"

Sandbar nodded. "Yup. But it seems like we'll be here for now."

She was about to say something else but Trident interrupted them with a set of keys. "This way, everyone. We will be taking rooms next to Ms. Laura's. Everyone follow me." He entered the elevator with everyone.

All the while, Ravine had been busy sneaking crab cakes from off the room service cart. By the time she entered the elevator her cheeks were puffed out, stuffed full of the meat. "Hehe...they'll never suspect a thing...huh?"

Much to her surprise, none of her friends said a word.

And all she could muster was a profound look a shock. "...Wow."

Once they arrived on their desired floor, Trident took the lead and pointed to one of the doors. "Laura is in room 604. Sandbar and I will be taking room 603. You girls will be taking room 602. Any questions?"

Tortuga snatched the room key from his hand. "Ey. I'll be doin' what I like thank ya very much. C'mon Ravy. Let's have ourselves a girls' night."

"But ya'll are literally just doin' what Tri said-" Sandbar tried to point out but was cut off by a Tortuga balling her fist in his face.

"Say it again, homie?"

Sandbar leaned back. Whether it was fear or annoyance, he didn't attempt to challenge her. "Naw man. Ya'll good." He replied as he shook his head rapidly.

"Thought so." She walked of towards the room.

Ravine passed them and stuck out her tongue. "Oooh, get fried~"

"That's quite enough," Trident pushed the blue girl towards the room.

"Aw but I dun wanna go, dad!" Ravine teased him with her hands on his shoulders.

"Nope, not falling for it." Trident had to almost fling the girl into the room before shutting the door.

As he walked back, Sandbar had a smirk from ear to pointed ear. His eyes poked playful daggers into his friend's. "Ya'll really close huh?"

"Shut it or you'll be on the street when we leave here." He responded under his breath. The boys made their way into the room.

The hours went on as normal. The occasion al inkling would order themselves something from the room service food cart. Other than that, nothing major. It seemed as if whoever Laura said was after her hadn't shown up.

The boys each had their own beds and were lying in them. Sandbar had begun to stare up at the ceiling. Unable to fully rest himself.

Next to him, Trident was fast asleep. However, it was only a matter of time before he himself became restless due his friend not being able to sleep. An innate sense.

"Psst, hey."

The yellow boy's attention was stolen. "H...huh?"

With a sigh, Trident sat up in his bed, and turned on the lamp next to him. "What's wrong, man? If it's about your living conditions, I told you we'll sort it out."

"Naw it's..." It took a moment for Sandbar to respond. "I...dunno. I just got some kinda bad feelin' somethin' might happen here."

"Ah, you worry too much, my friend," he gave a chuckle and lied back down. "If something does occur, I'll bet my left ink sac that everything will be easy to handle. So a crazy fan wants to come see her. It'll be no issue, I assure you."

Sandbar nodded. "Fair enough, man. I'mma...try and sleep. This place got some really nice beds."

"Yeahhh...and the...food is divine..." he said through a yawn while he headed into slumber once more.

With his feelings sated for the moment, Sandbar lied back and tried to get some sleep as well.

It would be another hour into the dead of the morning, about 2AM, when the yellow boy got out of his bed and stretched. He then went into the massive hotel bathroom. "...Darn tootin'...this place is what I dream of." His finger attempted to click on the light switch. But much to his surprise, the lights did not activate.

"H...huh?" Through his half-asleep state, he didn't realize it at first. So he tried again, and again. By the third try, he brushed it off. "Naaahh...must be sleepwalkin'..." The next step he took was a painful one, resulting in him tripping and falling flat on his face against the tile floor with a loud _SMACK_.

"OW..." Sandbar pushed away from the floor, stretching his face until he snapped upwards. The front half of his head flat as a pancake until a _POP_ returned him to normal. "What the...?" After such a fall, he was wide awake, all he could see was pitch black darkness. "Naw...naw naw...NAW." In a state of panic, he wiggled his arms around him to locate the carpet that led back into the hotel bedroom. Once he did, he crawled along the floor until he heard his cyan friend's snoring.

"Dude. Dude! DUDE! Trident wake up man!"

The shouts caused Trident to twist and contort his blankets until he was wrapped in them. "Wh-what the shrimp?! Mom leave dad alone!"

That last bit caught him off guard. "Uh..." he was about to say something, but focused on the main issue. "My man, wake up. We got ourselves a _hyuuuge_ problem here!" Sandbar shook his friend to get him out of the bed.

While shaken, Trident could only form garbled speech. "Wh-whaaat's goooiiing...oooon...?"

"The lights are out man! I think somethin's happenin'!"

"Gah...first unhand me you bumbling fool." He freed himself from Sandbar's grip, and tried to toggle the lamp on, but nothing happened. "Hm...odd." Trident then put on his glasses and grabbed his Squidphone, turning on the flashlight mode. All they could see was a few feet ahead.

"I told ya man! There's somethin' wrong! I could see it in my darn head I'm tellin' ya!"

"It seems to me that the power to the entire building has been cut off. We'll need to go around and make sure the elevators weren't used when this happened." Trident got out of bed, and shot a concerned look at his friend. "You may have been correct, but now is not the time to lose your head. We need to focus."

"Yeah...you're right. Sorry man."

The boys walked out of the room.

"Just as I suspected," Trident lamented while he held his phone out to light the way, "the entire hall is pitch black out here. And I assume all other floors are as well." He looked left, then right, "Since everyone is aslepe there is little cause for concern on a grand scale. But I suggest we stand guard outside Laura's door. How's that sound, Sandman?"

The yellow inkling was shaking in his slippers. A fearful frown adorned his face with his teeth chattering. "Y-y-yeah...right."

"...Listen, it's alright if you're still afraid of the-"

"DARK? PFF! I ain't afraid of no...dark. *gulp*" How much he shook in place was evidence of the opposite. "I-I'm just fine..."

Trident sighed. "Alright, well I'm not going anywhere so just stick by me."

Out of nowhere, a third voice rang out to them. Having a similar western accent to Sandbar's. "Well now. I thought I heard myself the voice of the Sandman in them there halls, but it be real."

"Um...what? Sandbar do you know who that is?" Trident asked.

He sighed, "...Unfortunately...yeah."


	15. Old Memories

A dark skinned, white inkling boy walking into the cone of light generated by Trident's phone. He was wearing a rugged pair of jean shorts, jean jacket and black cap on his head. "Howdy man. Been a long time since we even chatted with each other."

"Yeah question. Why in the heck are ya here all the sudden?" Sandbar prodded with a hint of irritation in his voice.

"Eh, me and the guys were just doin' our thang when we decided to stop at Albacore here to take ourselves a rest. But now it's straight up dark." He rolled his eyes, "Gonna try and figure out what's caused it or whatevs."

"Tch, not if we do so first...Mad Dog."

Trident meanwhile hadn't an inkling of an idea as to who this kid was. "Um, bud? Who's this?" He looked to Sandbar for answers.

Before he could say anything, the newcomer interjected. "Ya'll ain't heard of me cuz ya boy here wants to forget all traces of where he dun came from. And well, that's his choice and all but he ain't respected by us no more." The boy folded his arms and hit them with a smirk, "I go by Bullet 'round these parts. And your friend here used to be named-well, I'll let him tell ya the rest himself. Regardless after he left, we started doin' what we wanted and we came across this lady's stalker emergency. So we figured why not help out. Right, 'friend'?"

Sandbar responded with a grimace. "I ain't got no clue whatcha mean. Git outta here."

"Alright, fine man," he said with his hands up in a defensive state. "When ya see me again, we'll already have found the guy who's after Laura so don't bother." Finally, he walked away, back into the darkness of the unlit hall. His white ink creating a dim light around him as he left.

"Okay...what was that about?" Trident asked in a more assertive tone this time around. "Not once have you mentioned anything relating to being part of some other faction before now. And just who was this 'Bullet' character anyhow?"

There was no way to ignore it,l so Sandbar answered with a sigh. "Look...alright fine. I never brought it up before now cuz it wasn't important. But you gotta promise me to keep this to yerself and not say a word to even Ravine or Tory."

The cyan boy held up his right hand. "I solemnly swear. Now talk to me."

"Alright, well. When I was younger...I used to be in this group of sorts. We called ourselves The Rangers."

The images ran through his head….

 _Four small inkling boys with Dualies were shooting at a pair of thieves who robbed money from a bank. It was then followed up by the four taking the money to a poor family nearby._

"I lived in a pretty rough place near Calamari County. Everybody had to fend for themselves and if ya ain't had a real job, you was in a gang of some kind. Most of 'em didn't incite violence or nothin'. But we...we was pretty much vigilantes. We took whatever we could and gave it away to whoever we deemed was worth it."

 _The same boys would go on to break into a wealthy household and steal fresh food and other items that the rest of the people in town severely lacked._

"We did this cuz we was tired of our families bein' funneled nothin' but pity from the tyrannical mayor that ruled over us. Bullet was the leader, followed by Delta, Tide, and I was called Mustang."

Trident gave a slow nod as he processed what was being told to him. "Really? I never realized you were that adept at Turf below the normal age of ascent, 14. How old were you when this was going on?"

"We was 10. But that ain't important. What's important, is the reason why I left the Rangers in the first place."

 _The smaller Sandbar came across his three teammates standing over a limp body in an alleyway...to which they invited him to join._

"I ain't gon' never forget that day. That's the day when he took things too far. I wasn't about to hurt nobody." He lamented while staring at the carpet beneath him.

"...Hrm. Makes me wonder why exactly he's here." Trident went on as he tried to rationalize the white inkling's intent. "He heard about Laura needing guarding assistance, and wanted to possibly snipe the job away from us? Do you think that could be it."

Sandbar balled his fist. His body shook, as if he wanted to punch the wall, but he knew it'd cost him way too much for property damage to the hotel. "WHatever it is. I ain't about to let that weasel show me up so easy!"

Through the darkness, the two boys then heard the sound of grunting and blows landing that echoed in a metallic fashion.

"It seems we have located our lead. Should we perhaps wake the girls or-?"

Sandbar gave no verbal reply. In one moment he looked at Trident with a furious glare for even putting forth such an idea. In the next, he had already deduced the source of the noise. "Down the laundry chute. This way."

As his friend opened the metal latch, Trident muddled over the possibility of a backup. There was no way to argue with a distressed Sandbar so it was pointless to refuse him. "Alright. Let's go."

The boys slid down the hotel laundry vent, and landed in a pile of soft linens at the bottom.

"Oof!" They both landed with a grunt. After which, Sandbar jumped out and landed on the cold floor of the laundry room.

"Where's-?"

Much to his horror, Bullet had already defeated the attacker. The white inkling even had the body of the perpetrator on his shoulder. "Heh. Too slow once again, Sandman. Just like all them years ago when ya threw your chances away."

"That was something completely different!" he snapped at his former leader, "and you know it darn well! And you straight up ninja'd my team's investigation for what? Just so you could look cool?"

A smug, pearl white grin appeared on Bullet's face. "I told ya. We just so happened to hear about Laura's arrival, just so happened to end up in New Albacore tonight, and just so happened to catch the guy before you did. Fair makes fair am I right, man? Haha!" He finished with a cocky laugh. "Now if you excuse me, gonna take the security camera footage and make history."

As he left the laundry room, all Sandbar could do was grumble to himself. The boy fumed from the rage that built inside of him. He wanted to scream but knew it'd wake up sleeping patrons. "Grrr..."

Trident meanwhile, stayed silent the entire time.

* * *

The next morning, the TWIC crew were back in Tortuga's garage. Watching the news on a wall mounted TV. An orange Octoling reporter reviewing details of what happened the night before.

After which, it displayed Sandbar's white-colored rival being interviewed about the situation.

 _"Yeah, it was pretty easy to handle. Just sorta had my own level of intuition involved. Turns out there was someone comin' after Ms. Fishburne and they were gonna try and steal all of her research and stuff so she wouldn't be able to make documentaries no more. And I was like 'naw man'. And one more thing. If ya watchin' this, howdy Sandman~"_

The focus switched back to the reporter.

 _"The ones charged with attempted theft were a trio of salmonoids that faked being a person with a very, very terrible costume. We'll have more on the story tonight at 10 when we interview Laura herself."_

The TV was shut off in the next moment by Tortuga herself. "What was that? Answer me. What the holy mother of carp was that?! Some old friend of yours comin' back for revenge or somethin'?!"

Both Sandbar and Trident were ragged. Due to a lack of sleep from the night before, they both had dreary bags under their eyes and attempted to force it off with mugs of steaming hot cocoa.

"Look man...I ain't in the..." he paused to let out a yawn, "...mood for none of this right now..."

"No you listen to ME. Answer me right now about who that was and why he knows you!" Tortuga hissed and slammed both of her hands on the table as she stood.

Ravine came back through the garage door with a coffee pot full of hot chcolate. "Here, guyth." She topped off both of their mugs, and even went ahead and rubbed each of their heads with one hand. "Just...relax for now. Staying up stho late isn't good while you're stressthed."

"Ravine what the carp are ya doin'?! We need them to give every last darn detail about what happened last night! Not pracin' around waitin' for what's next?"

Ravine only responded with a smirk as she nudged a mug of cocoa towards her friend. "Justh shushth. Calm yothself girl."

Begrudgingly, the dark violet inkling took the mug, and sipped it. Almost like magic, her mood was changed from Ravine's hot concoction. "Hm...not bad. I guess I can wait until they wake up."

"That'th better."


	16. RelaxingOr Not

Once the tired boys had their fill of Ravine's hot drink, they found themselves awakening. Sandbar, in particular, felt embarrassed. The boy neglected to make any eye contact with his leader.

And in the moments that followed, he took his time to speak. "Well...I guess I should tell ya. That's an old rival o' mine that wants to swipe our cases. Why? I ain't got no real clue."

"Hrm..." Tortuga gave a dissatisfied grumble. But she respected her friend's wish of staying silent. "Aight, aight. I won't press ya about it, but we can't be affordin' our cases to be snatched up by some random guy."

"Do you think we sthould try and do another one before he doesth?" Ravine asked.

There was a cold silence before Tortuga finally gave an answer. "...Nah. I think we should lay low for a while. Maybe if we stay outta the investigatin' loop, this dude won't have anythin' to swipe."

"Sounds like a hefty sort of plan," Trident responded as he leaned on the table. "We could all use a break from our usual fare for a while."

"Yeah, I'mma second that one," came Sandbar's words of agreement while he leaned back in his chair.

The dark purple girl nodded. "Alrighty, then guys. Let's just take time off for now."

And so they did. Each of the inklings taking time to regroup and resume their daily lives for the time being in order to relax.

However, Sandbar wasn't exactly keen on the idea of relaxation. Throughout the day, his mind was plagued constantly by his past. Even more, images popped up here and there.

 _"C'mon, finish the job."_

 _"He had it coming anyway."_

 _"He knew better than to come on our turf. End it."_

"Ngh...ghhh..." Sandbar ran his fingers through his hair. Nails dug against his scalp like a lawnmower through grass. The boy shook in his seat, his rate of breath increased nearly tenfold each second. "Why...why now...what're you plannin'...get away!"

"SANDBAR!" Trident grabbed his friend by the shoulders and screamed in his face. They were now at his house as was their agreement until Sandbar could find a better place of his own. "What is going on with you? Ever since we got here you've been chattering to yourself and mumbling. It's starting to creep me the carp out."

"Ah...sorry man I just..."

The cyan inkling gave a sigh while he went into the kitchen. "Listen. I know what your issue is. And honestly? You simply need to take your mind off of it, as it is plaguing your mind like a cancer. Which is why I have already planned for us to revisit our old hangout spot tonight."

"...Bruh The Shoal ain't really that hype of a place anymore."

Trident smirked and grabbed a cookbook. "Not The Shoal. The Shoal 2." He then started to flip through the pages.

Curious, Sandbar rose from his seat on the couch and tried to see what his friend was doing. "Shoal...2? I dun get it. Is it like some upgraded version of the old one? Does it add anything new?"

Trident stopped on a page in the cookbook and went to the refrigerator to grab eggs and milk. "Eh...it's an upgrade yeah. And it certainly offers more than the first. Trust me, the creators wouldn't just make a haphazardly hashed version they would call 'new' and not try to innovate. That's what lazy people do."

"Woah um, alright?" Sandbar wasn't sure how to respond, so he decided to ask more questions instead. "What's it like over there?"

"Actually I haven't been to The Shoal 2 yet. I wanted my best friend there with me. That way we can both find out exactly what it's like over there." Now Trident had gathered up flour, sugar, salt, and other baking ingredients.

"Oh, alrighty, then. Wait a sec-" It took him a moment to realize what his friend was doing. "What's all this stuff for?"

"Hm? Ah, I'm gonna try my hand at making some cookies. Splatoween is in a few weeks so I wanna be ready to give 'em out."

Splatoween. Sandbar gave a fond look towards the ceiling and rubbed his chin. "Hm..that takes me back. I remember my first Splatoween. I went as a cowboy, roundin' up sweets like they was my cattle"

Trident chuckled. "Haha. Yes, of course. I remember as well. And I went as a professor, requesting confectionaries for experimentation..."

Their past nights out went through their minds.

 _"Trick-or-Treat!" A pair of inkling boys shouted at the doors. One wearing baggy jeans, a leather vest, brown boots, and a cowboy hat that was a bit large for his head. The other wearing a white lab coat that draped over his entire body along with thick-rimmed glasses, in which each lens was twice the size of the eyes._

"Man that was fun. And this year's gonna be even better!"

Trident was now mixing cookie ingredients together in a bowl with a whisk. "Indeed. But since that's weeks away, we have time to work on our costumes and such. And of course, tonight we're heading to Shoal 2, so we can relax for a while."

"Gotcha. Lemme know when yer done with them cookies, I'm gonna try 'em."

"Heh, naturally."

* * *

Once the evening was upon them, the boys made their way towards Downtown Inkopolis. Just a 15-minute walk from their homes. The city filled with its bright, colorful lights as vehicles zipped up and down the roads.

The location they arrived at was in the heart of the bustling city streets. A giant, standalone arcade center complete with a buffet bar and even indoor rides. A completely upgraded version of The Shoal that was only open for a certain amount of time each day.

"Boy howdy..." Sandbar walked in, mouth agape at the plethora of things to do compared to the first Shoal. "It's...an abundance of riches man!"

Trident gave a sharp whistle as he stepped alongside his friend. "...Amazing is it not? I am at a loss for words on what to do first, so you pick."

All of the noises that mixed around with each other only fueled Sandbar's excitement even more. It wasn't until he laid eyes on a soda bar next to a dance floor where dozens of inklings and octolings were dancing to the latest music that had just released.

"I say we hit up some sodas. Gonna need energy for all the stuff we wanna do, right?" Sandbar suggested before he bolted towards the counter to take a seat.

"Hm. Guess I won't refute some delicious carbonation." Trident shrugged his shoulders and followed. To his left was the dance floor. When he saw everyone dance, it made him fear for his life and hope Sandbar wouldn't suggest anything relating to it next.

They both sat beside each other and made their orders.

"Gimme a tentacola float with lime," Sandbar said.

Followed by Trident, "Seaweed Soda with a Red Herring mix."

"Okay, coming right-" the Octoling boy behind the counter stopped and looked at the two. "Hey, I know you guys. You were in the paper!"

Immediately both boys shook their heads and made a 'please don't say that' gesture, drawing their palms across their necks.

"Heh, sorry. Here ya go." He pushed the foaming mugs out to them and went to assist other customers.

Both of them closed their eyes and exhaled with relief.

"Too close," Sandbar remarked while he took a look at his friend's mug. "Seaweed soda? Seriously? You gotta have a stomach of iron to digest that."

"Heh, don't worry. The Red Herring counters most of the murky taste. Besides, who doesn't love a bit of challenge?"

They sipped their drinks and started to chat once more. However, it wouldn't be long before they were approached yet again. This time, though, it was Trident that had the attention, and it was not what he expected.

"Hey, it's him!" A pink inkling girl from nearby called out and began to walk over.

"Oh yeah!" Another inkling girl, green, followed her.

Nervous, Trident looked at the both of them but tried to avoid eye contact. "...Can I help you?"

The pink one giggled. "Our friend Ravine said you'd be here. We wanted to meet you!"

"Yeah! Wanna dance with us?" The green one approached him much closer.

"I uh...see...no...because...well..." Trident started to sweat. He tugged at the collar of his shirt and fidgeted in his seat. From behind, Sandbar was snickering to himself. "I-I can't dance! Seriously, I might kick you."

Both girls laughed.

"Pssh! We can't either!" said the pink.

"Who really can dance these days am I right?" the green scoffed and grabbed one of Trident's arms.

"No-stop-please cease!" he protested while the pink one grabbed his other arm. "Codfound it-Sandbar help!"

His friend was too preoccupied with amusement at his expense. "Heh, ya could do well to get over that fear of yers-"

"Shut up!"

Another laugh and Sandbar sat back and watched. For a second, he pondered going out there to join his friend (and save him of course). But his thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a familiar voice.

"Heh, didn't expect to see you here, my man." It was Bullet. The boy took a seat next to his former crewmate, and snapped at the worker behind the counter. "Ey! Get me my usual. Thanks."

Sandbar's eyes squinted, giving a narrow glare at the white inkling. "What do ya want? I ain't in the mood for games."

"Just here to offer you something...you can't pass up. Think about it," he leaned back against the counter with his hands behind his head, "these cities are full of corruptin' and people who jus' wanna do whatever. I say no. You can only stretch the law so far before it becomes a slippery slope of blurriness."

Sandbar finished his soda and put the mug down. "I ain't got no interest in yer group. What I'm doin' is what I feel is right."

Bullet rolled his eyes, "Tch, you know. It gets me."

"Eh?"

"There's people just like you and ya friends all around this city that can't stand it when things change. You're not willing to accept it and adapt to what the situation throws at ya. Naw, people like you and yer friends would rather abandon anything that seems too far out of whatcha think ya can handle, and call it a day." He paused mid-rant, "And where in the abyssal zone is mah drink?!"

"S-sorry sir, here it is! M-Mussle Crowe with fizzy scallops!" The Octo-boy from behind the counter handed him the mug and immediately hid.

"Hmph. Anyway," he took a sip, "you won't get yerself nowhere in life if ya just jump ship when things get too hard. So quit bein' a squitter and understand for once."

Sandbar closed his eyes and promptly opened them. "...I don't have no time for this." He rose from his seat and walked towards the dance floor.

"That's what Delta would've said too."

The yellow kid stopped on a dime and balled his fists. "Don't. Speak. Of. Delta."

"Pssh, sorry. Just sayin'."

"I'm serious, pardner. Don't even think of mentionin' that to me. Or else you'll be sorry." Sandbar stomped back towards him.

To which Bullet accepted this as a challenge, rising to his feet to meet Sandbar at eye level with a smirk. "You threatnin' me? How cute."

They stared each other down. The loud music was deafened towards Sandbar as he focused on his old partner...


	17. Case Arc 3: Haunted

Meanwhile, on the dance floor...

"Wow, he's actually not bad!" The pink inkling girl cheered.

Followed by her green friend cheering. "Hehee, yeah! He's so cool!"

In reality, it was the third time Trident had fallen onto his rear. "Gah. I told you both I'm not much of a dancer," he rose to his feet while they continued to dance, "and just what made you two come and grab me anyway?"

The girls stopped to look at each other and started to giggle.

"What's so funny?"

"Oh nothing~," they both said with smirks that completely discredited their statement.

In a matter of moments, two other inkling boys with similar leather jackets to Bullet had made their way through the crowd and stepped up to Trident. One blue, the other orange.

"The heck is going on here?" said the blue one.

"Are you talkin' to our girls?" the orange one demanded an answer.

Both inkling girls leaned against the boys that approached, which left Trident confused, and nervous. "Um...no? They offered me to dance...well it was more like by force but eh."

"Yeah right. You better not be stickin' your tentacles where they don't belong, bucko," the blue boy got closer and poked Trident's chest, "or else you'll be hecka sorry."

"Alright, sorry. Jeebus," he held his hands up to display his lack of any intent. Then he quickly made his way through the crowd of dancing kids back to where his friend was.

Concurrently, both Sandbar and Bullet were busy. The two exchanged harsh daggered glares at each other, however, the former's gaze was fueled with malice, the latter was thoroughly enjoying the situation.

From behind the counter, the Octoling server boy took a peek. "C-can you please not mess with anyone today Mr. Bullet?"

"Heh..." finally the silence between the two had been broken, "I'd love to stay and dance the jig witcha. But I got some more important things to worry about. Like the candy bein' given to the kids around town for Splatoween. Gotta make sure it's safe, ya know."

Bullet started to take his leave, "See ya brother," and the other inklings that approached Trident earlier began to follow.

The cyan boy noticed them leave and looked to Sandbar for answers. "Um...what exactly was that? And what did he mean by keeping the candy safe?"

"Hm...I dunno, but I wouldn't worry about it," Sandbar took his seat on the stool once more, "He ain't lookin' out for nobody but himself. And I ain't got no doubts on what he plans to do next."

Trident sat next to him and gave it some thought. But before he could relay what those thoughts were, he was interrupted by his Squidphone buzzing in his pocket. "Hm?" When he answered it, he was met with a loud set of yells in his ears. It made him grunt and recoil from the phone as he tried to discern what was being said.

After a moment, he responded with a few 'yes' and 'okay's before hanging up.

"Uh...the heck was that?"

Trident had to adjust his glasses since they were lopsided from flinching at the noise of the phone. "It was Tortuga."

Sandbar's pupils dilated. "...Well, what she say?"

"I could tell you but it's best to wait until we're...away from this scene."

* * *

Later, the boys would hurry their way to Tortuga's garage. They saw that her house was already decorated with pumpkins, fake bats, spiders, webs, and all sorts of spooky decorations.

"...'Hurry up and get yer squiddy butts down here'?" Sandbar repeated the quote from Tortuga over the phone, "Heh. Very convincin'."

Trident knocked on the garage door. "Indeed, but what's so important that she had to call right this second?"

The garage door rose up, revealing their little TWIC HQ decked out in even more spooky decor. Including their crew table that had a carved pumpkin head in the middle. However, there was no sign of Tortuga.

"Huh...this is-" Trident's eyes scanned over everything in the room twice over. He was deeply impressed with what she had done. Though, as soon as he realized there was no Tortuga... "It's a trick. She's baiting us."

"Yeeep, right there with ya. But we may as well head on in." Sandbar shrugged with a face of disinterest as he stepped inside.

"Ugh, here we go..." Trident walked in with him. They both knew full well what would occur next.

The garage door was immediately shut behind them, and the next thing they heard was a low moaning noise that echoed around them, followed by the room filling up with a thick smoke cloud.

"I know that's a sound effect machine...and a smoke machine," Trident commented matter-of-factly.

"Wassup boys?!" Tortuga emerged from the smoke wearing a white suit and white dress pants, along with some black shades. "I'm da boss around 'ere!"

Next up was a shape of a girl floating down on a brella from the ceiling with a floofy dress. "Honesthly do try and make a better entranceth next time, boys. We're trying our besth here." Ravine was revealed wearing a gothic-style black dress with red trim and lacing. She was even speaking in a faux-high class accent to help sell it.

"Whatcha think of our costumes, ya'll? I'm da Boss!" She pulled her shades down and shot them a wink.

"And I am Queen Victoria. One of humanity's best queen's known for her illustrious fashion sense and architecture style," she dropped the accent, "At leasth, I think. There wasth only stho muchth I could find on the internet."

"Heh, not bad, ya'll," Sandbar said while rubbing his chin, "but ya'll ain't got nothin' on what we's fixin'a wear."

"Indeed," Trident agreed while he wondered to himself just how well Ravine managed to pull off her costume, "you both look quite amazing. But I assume you called us here for something else as well?"

"Yeh yeh, take a seat ya'll." Once they all sat at the table, Tortuga did the same and showed them her phone. "An entire shipment of candy's gone missin' near Port Mackerel. The news been tryin'a keep quiet about it cuz if they can't find it...ain't gonna be no candy in the stores this year."

There was naught but a silence in the room...

"Guys?"

Her three companions had equally mortified expressions. Complete with gaping jaws, twitching eyelids, and a halted state of breath.

"...Guys?"

"Oh heck naw man!" Sandbar yelled.

"We have to go now!" Trident shouted.

"No one is gonna steal my choco-thick-bars!" Ravine screamed.

"SHADDAP!" Tortuga's outburst dwarved theirs by comparison, which made them all snap their heads at attention towards her. "I already gots a plan, so ya'll quit ya bellyachin'. Just follow my lead, alright?"

They all got up and prepared to leave, but Ravine was eager to give a spooky jest.

"And watch out for the Bass Flinging Trahser~!"

"Nope, ain't fallin' for it," Sandbar rolled his eyes as he left the garage.

Trident couldn't help but scoff as well. "That does not exist. Get some better spook material."

"Ravy, hurry up and get changed. Let's go," Tortuga almost spat at the horrible legend while changing out her costume for her normal clothes.

"Hehehehe..." she rubbed her hands together behind their backs.


	18. Hard to Port

At Port Mackerel...

"All set ya'll?" Tortuga chimed with a bit of a sly grin.

"Yuppersth. Oncesth we unveil the decoy, the theif will no doubt have to come back," Ravine explained.

Trident was a bit more cynical however, "Right...but are you sure about this?"

Before them was a giant shipping container not unlike the others that were scattered about the Port, except this one was labeled "Sweets Co." with a set of black spray paint on either side.

Trident went on, "I doubt seriously our culprit will fall for something so simple."

"But hey, it worth a try ain't it?" Sandbar said with a shrug, which prompted a similar shrug from his cyan friend.

"Alrighty, now ya'll remember the plan," Tortuga gave everyone her usual stern glare, to which they responded with quick nods. "Good. Ravs, you're with me. Boys you take the left side of the port."

Without hesitation, they split off into their respective pairs. Tortuga and Ravine staying where they were.

"Now...we just gotta wait for 'em to take the bait," Tortuga said while she waited inside of a nearby empty shipping container.

Ravine gave a hysterical sort of cackle as she waited beside her friend. "Yeah! Thisth isth gonna be fun!"

"Thisth isth stho flipping boring. We've been out here for three hoursth and haven't even gotten a nibble!" She hissed while patting herself down, "Darnit, where's my emergencthy candy?!"

Tortuga had her hands behind her head, "Chill Ravo. You shoulda pack before we..." she blinked twice at her watch, "...Oh. Has it really been three houas? Guess I'm used to this from all mah trainin'..."

"Ugh...you sthill haven't told usth about that yet..." she rubbed her own arm while looking to the side, "...are you hiding something from usth?"

"No, look...it's just somethin' personal. I'd ratha just not talk about it yet..."

"Tory...c'mon...you can tell me. Pleeaaaasthe?" Ravine pleaded with watery eyelids.

The dark purple girl rolled her eyes, "Look...maybe once we're all done here with this mission...I'll tell ya, okay?"

"...Alright."

Another whole hour passed, and the blue lispy inkling had fallen asleep. Meanwhile her friend was wide awake. Tortuga tapped on the metal container in a rhythmic fashion to keep herself occupied. She even began to hum Rip Entry.

Her own humming seemed to match the low pitch of a humming that was going on above her as well. Because of this, she didn't realize that the empty container both she and Ravine were being lifted into the air by a magnet.

The landing is what made Tortuga finally realize what was going on. "Unf...huh?" The container door was still slightly open on the side, so she took a peek out of it, and came to realize they had been put on the back of a carrier ship!

"..." Panicked, she grabbed her sleeping friend and shook her. "Raves, wake up!"

In her sleep, all Ravine did was giggle, "Heeheehee...Trident sthop it! That ticklesth!"

Tortuga raised an eyebrow, but disregarded the random slurred speech. She delivered a swift smack across Ravine's face to get her to wake up. "Hey!"

"Huh? Wha?" Her maple brown eyes shot open, and she started to regain memory of where she was prior to slumber. "Oh...darnit that was a nice dream."

"Not even gonna ask, but we sorta got put on this ship with some sorta crane magnet. I'mma head up to the front deck and see what's up," she said before exiting the crate only to see even more crates in a row on the deck. All of which smelled suspiciously sweet...

"Wait a sec," Ravine's nose twitched as she followed Tortuga out of the crate. "I smell some candeh!"

"Wait...what?"

Ravine sniffled one of the neighboring shipping containers and gave a confident nod. "Hm! In here!"

"Stand back, I'm a master lock picker so I can see for myself." Tortuga took a deep break, and pressed her palms together. Then in a flash, she spun and kicked the lock off the shipping container, causing it to open and reveal...

A treasure trove of sweets.

"Woaaaaah-ho!" Ravine's feet pitter-pattered with excitement. "Oh my cod! We found it!"

"Yeh, yeh. But the question is...who stole all dis and why. Hrm..."

From behind, in the darkness of the ship's cabins, a voice with an Irish accent rang out to them. "Identify yourselves."

Both girls swallowed lumps of fear.

A turquoise young inkling man wearing a green navy jacket, black pants, and leather boots stepped into their line of sight. The jacket he wore had several patches sewn into it. "Ye are tresspassin' are private property. I oughta make ye walk the plank fer this."

Tortuga eyed him up. The uniform he wore seemed a bit familiar to her. "Sorry, but...just who are ya?"

"And why are ya sthealin' the candeh?!" Ravine chimed in.

"I am not at liberty to answer yer questions. But my leader might be able to. As you are now her prisoners anyways."

"What?! Oh heck no!" Ravine tried to shout her displeasure at this but was quickly cut off by Tortuga.

"Ya know what? Not a problem. We'll come right along...quietly, Ravu," she shot a silent glare at her friend in a bid to get her to follow her lead.

Reluctant, she fell silent and took the cue accordingly.

"Uh-uh, I can't risk ye running amok on her deck," the boy walked over to them both before casually scooping up each girl in both of his arms, and slung them over each shoulder. "Come along now, this will be painless...I assume."

With her head behind his back, Ravine wanted to shake and wiggle until she could escape the grip, but Tortuga's gaze from across her made her feel slightly relaxed.

They were both carried by the boy to the control room where the Captain of the ship was, and tossed in, "They were snoopin' through our haul, ma'am. I brought them to ye."

"Excellent work...dismissed," the feminine voice of a light British accent replied to the boy to which he left.

The girls looked up at the shape of a girl that was standing at the other end of the control room, wearing a tighter, more sleek version of the same jacket the other boy wore with twice as many patches all over, along with a captain's hat on her head.

Ravine was the first to act as she rose to her feet and stomped towards the shadow. "Alrighty, bub! What'th the deal here?!"

The girl at the front was revealed to be a yellow inkling as she turned to face them both. "You dare defy me?"

When the girls got a good look at her face, they were horrified. Ravine's knees wobbled which caused her to fall on her back.

"What da heck's up with ya face?!" Tortuga screamed in horror.


	19. A Gold Captain

The yellow inkling had a severe burn mark on the right side of her face. Along with being a couple feet taller than the girls, she was just short of adulthood. "So what are you heathens doing on my vessel at this time?"

"...We could askth you the same thing!" Ravine cried out, "How dare you stheal all the candy from the innocent kids who go to housthes for it!"

Tortuga leaned against the wall with her arms folded. "Jus' wonderin' why you feel it's okay to do that, since everyone has the right to fairly earn their sweets."

"Well now, don't you two think you know everything?" The yellow captain went to a nearby drawer and pulled out a form, "I procured all of these sugary confections myself fairly and legally with cash."

"Lemme see that!" Ravine swiped the form away, and read it. Her eyes travelling along each line on the page with her expression slowly turning from an aggressive scowl to a fearful frown. "Aha...! Oh...oh no."

Tortuga's eyes shot open with the same fear. "...Ravs, what's up?" Her blue friend held out the form to which she began to read, going through the same words.

5 Freight Tons of Candy: Purchased for 888,888,888 Cash.

"...Aw dangit."

"Hm, now if you'll excuse me," the sea captain took the form back and placed it in the drawer once more, "I now have to figure out proper ways to punish you lot for entering my vessel unannounced."

"Ho-but like...this ain't cool." Tortuga knew she couldn't argue against a legal purchase. Her eyes darted left, and right as she tried to figure out what to say, "Ya gonna make a buncha little kids unhappy. Is that what ya want?"

Ravine on the other hand, was shaking in place with burning fury. She also knew that a purchase wasn't illegal, but the signs of desperation on her face ate her alive on the inside.

"Hm, you two know nothing of what my circumstances are...so I'll tell you. This burn I received is from participation in last year's festivities. I was in charge of the fireworks for an Off the Hook performance when my manager offered me these...gaudy and somewhat shady ones to use."

The yellow inkling lit the fireworks, only for them to spontaneously combust in her face...

"Needless to say it was less than enjoyable, and I had to stay in the hospital for months on end. I lost my job due to not being present, so I became fed up with all of it and just decided to leave. That's where I found this beautiful vessel and the rest is history. But now, whenever I tried to show my face, no one considers me fresh anymore! Not even my own husband."

There was a long pause that filled the room before she went on. "So I may as well put this scary face to good use. By pulling the ultimate trick...destruction of Splatoween!"

Ravine raised her index finger, "But that sthill doesn'th explain-"

"Enough! I don't have time to speak with you two! The captain interrupted Ravine with her outburst. "Torrent, take them to the hold!"

The same turquoise inkling from before had returned. His tall stature towering over them before grabbing both girls up in each arm. "Right away miss."

Once more, the pair fell silent lest they be crushed by the much older inkling's strong arms.

It wasn't long before they were taken below the ship's deck, and placed in a cell. "There ye are. If ye behave well, madam may let ye go.," he said as he closed the bars.

As the inkling left, the girls exhaled.

"WHew...that big whale of a dude nearly snapped me in half that time," Tortuga let out a cold shudder.

"Ugh! Thith isth the second time I've been put in a sthupid cage! I ain't no dogfisth!" Ravine screamed while shaking the bars in her hands.

It was all darkness to the left and right of them, with only a dim light above the staircase where the inkling had exited from gave them any sort of visibility.

"Well now what?" Tortuga sat down on the wooden floor, "Do ya think the boys'll come lookin' for us?"

"I hope," Ravine replied, "but it'th not like our ansthwer will fall right out of the sky."

"Heh, fall right out of the sky, right."

Moments later, they heard the sounds of crashing and shouting above the deck. It was followed up by the sound of Torrent being splatted from above. The next thing the girls knew, the door to the hold was broken by a face they hadn't seen before.

"Howdy ladies," the silver haired inkling, Bullet, had arrived with his dualies in hand. "Lemme just get ya outta there."

"Huh?!" Both of them were equally confused, but grateful they wouldn't have to spend the night here, until they realized just who it was.

"Wait a sec, you're-!"

"Stand back ya'll," in hand, he shook the Fizzy Bomb thrice, and gave it a chuck. It latched between the bars, blowing up three times and shattering them. "Alright, c'mon!"

"Hold on a sec," Tortuga stopped him, "Yous Bullet! The guy who snuck up on our case and stole it from us!"

"Listen, now is not the time to go around pinnin' blame," he scowled, "be thankful I was able to even get here in time."

Ravine wanted to argue, but internally sighed. She knew it'd be pointless after all. "Okay, fine."

The girls followed Bullet out of the hold and towards the main deck of the ship. Once there, they could see other leather jacket clad inklings in a heated battle against the Captain's navy jacket clad inklings.

Silver and yellow ink was flung left and right as both sides fought it out. A silver inkling kicked a yellow one into the water, a yellow one with a charger splatting two enemies at once, aa silver one performing splashdown, a yellow one lobbing bombs. It just wouldn't stop!

"Oh and I suppose yo team is here to show us up yet again?" Tortuga glared at the white inkling leader, "You knew we was tryin'a find out where the candy had gone missin' to so you try and show us up!"

"Listen to me, man! I don't give a carp about ya'lls business. I'm in it for mah own reasons. We work on our own! And FYI even if I do have an issue with Sandbar it still ain't noneya business.

Tortuga folded her arms and scoffed. "Whatevs. Call off ya boys, though. Ms. Fancypants legally bought all the candy...somehow."

"And ya'll actually believin' that?" Bullet was disgusted by this, giving a raise of his eyebrow.

"I mean, sthe had the document right up her control room, duh," Ravine protested with her hands on her hips.

"Tch, lessun one: Never take anythin' at face value-"

"Ingrate!" The older inkling captain stood on the upper deck above all of the action down below. Holding the document of purchase in hand, "I legally obtained all of the candy that would've been distributed to Inkopolis! No one can deny it!"

Bullet noticed her burned face and recoiled out of disgust. "Eugh...not a good look. Alrighty, then. How's about we bet bet on it then?! My team against yours in a real battle. Winner gets all the sweets!"

"Hmph. I do not have to entertain your foolishness..."

"Pssh!" Bullet twirled his left dualie on his index finger in a nonchalant fashion, "Yeh, she scared. She doesn't wanna face us."

"Excuse me?!"

"I mean, clearly you ain't got no backbone-not that any of us do-but ya get the point."

She pointed at them, "No one mocks me and gets away with it. I accept your challenge. My four against your four. Turf War on Port Mackerel. Now."

Ravine and Tortuga exchanged another set of confused stares. They made their best attempt to mouth words at each other, but they had been put under such shock by what had just transpired that they couldn't formulate a mere sound.

Bullet slipped his dualies into holsters on the sides of his waist. "Heh, now yer talkin' like a man. Let's do this."


	20. Let The Battle Begin

Bullet's Team:

All Dualies

Captain's Team:

1 Roller

3 Chargers

The battle began...with Bullet's team headed through Port Mackerel's lower level; directly through the middle. They ignored the side paths at first, much to the confusion of Ravine and Tortuga who both watched from the sidelines. Meanwhile the Yellow Captain's team had began to assault all corners of the map individually in their own approach to Turf.

One they had made quick work of painting their half. The three teammates with chargers all took positions to splat each one of Bullet's teammates when they had the chance. It repeatedly sent the leather clad inklings back to their spawn.

"Ouchth...they're gettin creamed like a Crusty Seanwich," Ravine commented. Much to her surprise, there was no response from Tortuga, who was standing next to her just moments ago.

It turned out that the dark purple inkling was busy breaking into the ship again while both teams were focused on the turfing. "Yo, dis way, Ravs," she whispered to get her friend's attention.

Ravine caught the message and followed her onto the ship once more. "Huh? What'th doin' on Tory?"

"I'mma see for myself if dis lady is tellin' da truth."

They headed back to the ship's control room where Tortuga sifted through the drawers to find the document they needed.

"Aha!" She gave a triumphant grin when she finally located it. Giving it a read over several times. "Hmmm..."

Ravine leaned over her shoulder, "I sthwear I read it and it said she legally bought all of it."

"Hold on..." she flipped the document over and continued to read it. It wasn't long before she found the ace in the hole they needed. "...heh. Can't cross us like that so easily lady."

"What? Whatcha find?!"

Tortuga showed Ravine the fine print on the back, "There's no signature here on this shipping document. Makin' the purchase null and void. She may have spent the money, but whoever sold it to her scammed her out of a quick buck."

Ravine slapped her knee. "...Pfffhahaha! The pirate got pirate'd yo!"

"...This is gonna suck for her, though. Cuz I think she genuinely believes she bought all this candy legit. But it ain't. I wish we could help her somehow."

"You cannot." The Yellow Captain walked into the room while holding her arm. "I did not realize my purchase was faulty. But...I don't know what else to do."

The girls anticipated an attack but were surprised by the young inkling woman's change of tone.

"Eh?"

"Having gone mad from my past, none of what you can do will assist me. Just...just take me away and put me out of my misery!" The mangled yellow inkling screamed at them.

Ravine and Tortuga exchanged dubious frowns at each other before the purple girl rolled her eyes.

"Yeh. Right. Like you're just gonna up and let us take you quietly like that?"

Ravine decided to test her ambition. "Okay, then why don'tcha call off your guyth then if you're so sthure."

But before they could get an answer, Bullet had bust the door down from behind the Captain. Covered in yellow ink, he was bashed up proper from the battle that he had just moments ago. "Guys...-huff-...come look! We got all the candy back!"

The girls were overjoyed to hear this, and ran outside to the ship's upper deck where they saw Bullet's leather clad inklings move the crates full of candy back into the Port for shipping out.

"Yeth!" Ravine cheered, "Now we can have our spookths!"

"Ain't nothin' to it ladies, now we just gotta confront our little pirate lady here-" he turned around as he finished his sentence, looking behind them to the control room, only to find an outline of the Yellow Captain made of dust. "-dangit where did she go?!"

"Eh...I say we leave her be." Tortuga waved her hand in a dismissive fashion, "These kinds of folks always com back for more so then we'll have another chance to ink her and sink her. At the moment. Though, I gotta ask," her eyes turned to the silver colored boy, "why'd you come and save us in da first place?"

"Yeah? I wanna know too," Ravine added.

"Like I was sayin', we was lookin' to find out where all the darn candy was goin' too. And we sorta stumbled upon the fact that ya'll had been captured so we decided to help ya."

Tortuga gave him a more sympathetic look as her expressions became softer. "Okay, I'mma humor ya with that one. But are you sure you ain't got no issue with Sandbar ya wanna deal with? I mean, when ya cracked the case with Ms. Fishburne ya sorta called him out on the news. Is there something botherin' ya...?"

"You can tell uth," Ravine leaned on Bullet's shoulder in an obnoxious fashion in a bid to get him to open up. "We promisthe we'll keep is secret...within reasthon."

Annoyed by their attempts to press him, Bullet could do nothing but give in at this point. "Fine...if ya really wanna know. It was a matter of keepin' our home turf safe. There was an intrusion on our side by a rival crew and we had to Splat him and send him packin'. Otherwise, we was riskin' grounds for an invasion."

"...Huh?" Ravine didn't entirely understand what he was saying. Her purple friend on the other hand...

"...I getcha. Trust me, I know first hand what it's like to be wrapped up in the craziness of bein' in a crew. Fightin' for what you think is right, not listenin' to nobody, and followin' yo leader like he know everythin'." She looked down at her feet. It took a while for her to come up with any sort of response. "I can't say who's right or who's wrong. But ya'll squidd brothas better sort this out."

Bullet folded his arms and tapped his foot. "I wish it was that easy..."

Much to his horror, the boys of TWIC finally caught up with their other halves. Trident and Sandbar stormed onto the ship and barreled through the leather clad inklings that were loading the candy back.

"...Aw shrimp," Bullet cursed himself.

"What da jumpin' jellyfish's deep fried mussel-bound hackensack is goin' on up in here?!" His eyes locked onto Bullet like a terminator protocol, "You. I knew you was up and about like an evenin' jackrabbit in a suhsi bar!" He grabbed Bullet up by the jacket with both hands, and slammed him against the wall of the ship. "Explain yerself dangit!"

"Hey hey hold on! And watch mah dukes, man, this cost me a fortune!" Bullet yelped while grabbing Sandbar's arms.

"Sandy, stop it!" Tortuga shouted as Sandbar reeled back his enclosed fist to presumably strike the silver inkling.

With cold eyes, he turned to look at his violet friend. "Why?"

After a brief explanation of the moments that had ensued before the boys' arrival, Sandbar begrudgingly released his grip on Bullet. The leather clad leader landing on his bottom with a thud.

Sandbar took a few steps away from him with his back turned, and balled both fists tight; almost scraping the skin of his palms when his nails dug in. "...This don't change nothin'." No other noise came from him besides his feet plopping down each step of the ship as he exited to the lower deck, and eventually off entirely.

Meanwhile, Trident had to stop and sigh. "...My apologies. The three of us are not privy to what has truly occurred in your past, so it'd be wrong for us to pick sides in a battle we aren't prepared to fight." He then adjusted his glasses, "That said, I do hope you two can sort each other's problems out in the near future."

Bullet rose to his feet and dust himself off. "I agree witcha. But fer now...I'mma stay outta ya'lls way. For the better of everyone involved. Ya'll did some great detective work figurin' out what was goin' on by the way, ladies. Keep it up." After the exchange of words, he proceeded to make his exit as well.

"Hm..." Trident looked at the girls. "So what exactly did you two find out? And why is the lower deck of the ship coated in white and yellow ink?"

"It's...a long story," Tortuga lamented with a palm to her face.

Ravine on the other hand was snickering. "But hey, that makes it better, right? Know anything about that, Tridey?"

"...I don't get it. Is this this a joke?"


	21. Case Arc 4: New Ink

That night, Bullet stumbled through alleyways in the city, all the way on the other side of Inkopolis. He coughed up yellow ink into his right hand on occasion while holding onto the brick walls with his left. The match with the Captain's yellow team left him ragged, and short of passing out.

Luckily for him, he was home now. At the end of an alleyway, the silver colored inkling managed to undo the lock on a metal door. Once that was done, the door as flung open and he entered. Slamming the door shut as fast as it was opened.

Behind the door was a large room that was remade into a lounge area. About the size of a studio apartment. To Bullet's right was a set of bean bag chairs that were located in front of a TV. To his left was a desk that had loads of paperwork on it. And at the opposite end of the room was the kitchen.

And in the kitchen was an Octoling girl, with an ink color of jet black, and her tentacles done up in two pigtails. She wore similar leather to Bullet, albeit in the form of a white jacket to help her palette stand out.

"There you are," she said as Bullet made his way over, "everyone's already asleep. What's the hap?"

Bullet groaned in reply. He went to the fridge and grabbed a milk carton to drink directly from. "Ugh..." He then shook his head to regain his composure, and finally acknowledged the black colored Octoling. "Sup toots?"

 _SMACK_

"Idiot. At least I know you're not dead or anything."

The boy rubbed the bruised spot on his cheek, "Okay, number one: ow. Number two: I was sorta compromised because of this deranged sea Captain. But we did manage to get the candy back."

"While that's great and all, you do know we're still hurting for money here?" The jet black Octo leaned back against the counter. "It'd be more helpful if we landed a really big one with a huge reward..."

"Mehhh time is money, Stormy. Can't rush things ya know."

Stormy, the black Octoling, rolled her eyes. "If you say so," she then rubbed Bullet's head affectionately but with a hint of condescendence as evidenced by her serrated grin. "Just stay safe out there ya know? I got my own side of things to deal with."

"Owowow, stahp," Bullet pleaded with a groan. The pain from the battle he took part in not long ago still lingered. He forced himself out of the taller girl's embrace and proceeded to flop onto a bean bag chair.

In the moments that followed, a smoke bomb went off in front of Bullet. Once the smoke dispersed, it revealed a kid wearing traditional black ninja gear. "Sir! I come with intel!"

"Quit it with the costume, Cove."

The kid removed the ninja mask, showing the head of a pink Octoling boy that spoke with a hint of an Southeast Asian accent. "Hey! It's not a costume. I pracitice legit ninjitsu!"

"Duh-s'why I got you as my recon man. Speakin' of which-whatcha find?"

Cove, the Octoling went and sat next to him on a bean bag chair, much to Bullet's annoyance. "Ah, you're gonna love this. Just turn on your TV news."

Stormy turned her attention to it as well.

A familiar orange Octoling was broadcasting an emergency.

"Breaking news! Pearl of Off The Hook's Splatoween costume has been stolen! We're going live to our news team for an interview."

The screen transitioned to show a distressed Pearl screaming with teary eyes.

"WHO DID THIS?! MY COSTUME WAS SO PERFECT AND MADE OUT OF EXPENSIVE RAW MATERIALS. I SWEAR TO COD IF YOU TOOK MY AMAZING COSTUME YOU'LL BE SORRY!"

From behind, Marina was grasping Pearl by the shoulders. "...E-Easy now, Pearlie. We'll find it..."

"WE BETTER! I worked all year on it!" She turned to her Octoling friend and buried her face against her while sobbing.

Marina gave a silent glare at the camera before it promptly shut off.

"Huh," Bullet had watched through the entire broadcast with a mute level of interest. "That's...kinda low for somebody to stoop to. But at the same time, her costume must be worth a gigantic fortune if it's been stolen."

"What's the move then, boss?" Cove saluted while eagerly awaiting Bullet's direction.

"Uhh...for now ya'll should be gettin' some sleep. I need to take care of somethin' before we start on this."

The Octoling boy frowned, but heeded Bullet's words. "Yes sir! C'mon, Stormy let's let him get some rest!" And in another puff of smoke, he disappeared.

The jet black Octogirl made her way towards a door at the other end of the room. "...Don't stay up late, alright?" She then took her leave, closing the door behind her.

Once they were both gone, Bullet took out his Squidphone, and dialed a number.

Meanwhile, at Tortuga's house...

The dark purple girl was shook out of her sleep from the buzzing of her phone. "Wah, what the-?!" Her arms and legs flailed around underneath the blankets until she realized what caused the noise. Since she was in a state of being irritated and tired, she wanted to avoid answering it. But something pushed her to do so. "Y...wh...hello?"

"Tortuga. It's me. Didja see the news?"

"Bullet? When did I give you my number?"

"Earlier when ya-look that ain't important right now. Point is, a case the size of a blue whale has just came up. Pearl's flippin' Splatoween costume's been stolen..."

That got her attention, which caused her bloodshot eyes to pop open. "What?! Wait a sec...why are you tellin' me? Aren'tcha gonna take this for yourself?"

"Look, I'm worried that Sandman may think I'm tryin'a show him up again, and lose sight of whatever the case is. I wanna deal with him on our own time, not durin' a valuable investigation."

Tortuga rubbed her eyes. "...I see. Look, you two need to figure out what your problems are. So how 'bout this. NEITHER of you should do anything pertaining to this case until you get your carp together."

Bullet had to stop and think on whether this was a good idea. "Um...are ya sure about that?"

"Oh yeah. Hang on, I gots an even better idea." She lied down on her front and idly kicked her legs behind her. "Head to the cafe where Ravine works tomorrow. And if ya don't I'mma pound ya good and hard."

"Okay okay, no need to get violent..." He wondered what the purple girl was planning, but found it better to go along with what she advised. "Alrighty, guess I'll..." His words slowed to a stop.

"TORTUGA MANGETSU. ARE YOU STILL UP? AND ON YOUR PHONE?!" Screams were heard on Bullet's end of the phone.

"Carp...gotta go." Was all the girl said before there were more loud shouts of a gruff male accompanied by Tortuga herself.

The shouts got even louder which made Bullet recoil and pull the phone away from his ear. The last thing he heard was the sound of crashing over the phone before hanging up.

The silver colored inkling sat and thought to himself.

 _"What in the almighty zapfish's grandaughter mayflowerin' steam powered susaphone did i just hear?"_


	22. Cafe Confrontation

"Are you sure you want us to handle this without you? I mean, you're our leader after all."

Bullet walked along the sidewalk through Inkopolis, and Stormy was doing a face chat with him over their phones. "Yeh. Ya'll go on ahead. Today I'mma take a break and clear mah mind a bit."

"Well whenver ya ready just come join us, boss!" Cove, the pink Octoling boy had forced himself into the view of Stormy's phone, much to her chagrin.

"Uh...yeah. If somethin' really bad happens, then gimme a call, but fer now..." he hung up. A few more steps through the city would lead him to the plaza where the O.K. Coral Cafe was located. "Ah, here it is."

The windows and the door of the cafe were adorned in spooky decorations. Spider webs, fake bats, and drawings of pumpkins that customers left in the window.

"Alright, so..." Bullet mumbled to himself whilst his eyes glanced over the seats of the cafe. It wasn't long before he spotted the dark purple girl who had asked him to come here, sitting at a booth by herself.

"Yo," Bullet greeted her with a smile as he took his seat.

The smiled was returned with a gaze of apathy. "...Sup."

When Tortuga turned her face, Bullet saw she had a black eye. "Eeee..." he flinched in his seat and his hands twitched. "What...what happened to ya?"

"Don't wanna talk about it. Anyway, Sandbar's gonna be here in a sec. And then I'm gonna leave you two to sorta ya differences out. If ya don't I'll-"

He interrupted her. "Yeah yeah, 'pound ya till ya beg' and all that. I get the shibang."

"Good."

The jingle of the cafe door followed by the appearance of the highlighter-yellow kid was Tortuga's cue. She got up from the table and headed to the bathroom.

Meanwhile, Sandbar checked his phone. "Lemme see...meet at the table next to the scary window." Then he looked up, noting how each of the windows had decorations laced around them. However, there was an empty spot nearby. And from his perspective, he saw only the spot Tortuga previously sat in which was now empty.

"Okay, then here," he deduced and took his seat. Once he had realized who was in front of him, he regretted every decision he had previously made in life up to this very moment. "Oh...cod dangit."

Bullet put his elbow on the table and rest his head in his palm. He couldn't help but release a snicker from his lips. "Heh...yer face is priceless mang."

Now turned off, Sandbar would attempt to leave from the table. But as soon as he turned his head, he saw Tortuga ball her fist, and crack a pair of walnuts with her bare hand from the corner of the room. Which made him sit back down as his heart had been struck with fear of having his arms crushed. "Ughhh...hey...Bullet."

"Mustang. It's been a while since we talked like this or anythin'. Listen, I don't wanna be here anymore than you do, but I gotta admit there's some things we need to...discuss."

"Okay...fine..." Sandbar impatiently tapped his foot on the floor in a bid to hide the rage that was brewing inside of him. "We'll start with this...what happened to your old crew? They still around? Or did they bounce on ya too?"

Bullet folded his arms and leaned back against the booth cushion. "Things have been...complicated. But to make a long story short, we've split up a long time ago."

"Oh, and I bet it ain't got nothin' to do with what happened to Delta?!"

There was a silence between the two of them while some other cephalopod kids looked in their direction after the sudden outburst.

Bullet put his hand over his face and gave a combined grumble of a sigh. "Hmm...listen...I don't expect you to forgive me for that, but she made the choice to splat the darn intruder who entered our turf."

"You...ya lyin'!" Sandbar's hands were raised as he would've attempted to grab the silver colored inkling by his leather jacket if it weren't for the fact that Tortuga cleared her throat to make her presence known once more. "Tch...why should I believe ya? Yer just tryin'a cover yer own hide!"

"I ain't got nothin' to hide from ya, friend." Bullet scowled, "If I did, I wouldn'a showed mahself in the first place. She made her own choice man, and now she's gone. Ain't nothin' else we can do about it, 'cept move on."

"Gah..." Sandbar sat back in his seat. "What else ya gotta say?"

"Honestly, I'm kinda jealous of ya," Bullet went on, much to the surprise of the yellow boy. "You got all these friends that care about ya, and yer folks too. I ain't got plum nobody, really. Kinda why I've been spendin' mah time tryin'a outdo ya."

"...You think that makes up for everythin'? That it'll all just disappear like thin air?"

Bullet shut his crystal blue eyes. "...Nah. I just thought ya'd be more open once I came atcha with the truth. I ain't got nothin' else to say really. Mah sense of duty n justice was turned around on that day. When ya didn't wanna splat the intruder, I was stuck on thinkin' about why. And...now I think I understand."

As the two continued their chatter at the table, a set of four identical looking cephalopod kids would enter the cafe. They were all wearing black and yellow striped Tees with Hockey Masks concealing their faces. To the average kid, they just looked like a very passionate Ranked Battle team that wanted to make a big entrance.

However, things quickly turned sour as one of them threw a water balloon. Although, instead of water, it was filled with a fine white powder...itching powder!

"Git down mang!" Sandbar shouted and ducked beneath the table.

Bullet didn't hesitate and dropped down with him. "What in the venus's deep fryer trap is goin' on?"

To the shock of everyone in the cafe, each of the four Hockey Mask kids threw several of them at each corner of the room, and coated everyone in the powder which made them start to scratch and groan over how uncomfortable it was.

"Hey what-ngh!"

"The heck man?!"

"I just wanted to enjoy a carpachinno!"

This went on with several kids preoccupied with the itches. Rampant scratches being heard throughout the cafe as everyone tried to get rid of the annoying sensation on their skin.

From under the table, Bullet noticed something else that was going on. "Hey...wait a darn minute."

"Eh?" Sandbar gave a raise of his eyebrow.

The kids who threw the itching powder balloons were headed around to each table, and moved their masks so they could eat the unfinished food that was on the patrons plates, and swiping the tips they were planning to leave for the wait staff!

"Bruh! Now that just ain't right! Is this their idea of a prank?! Cuz it ain't a good'un..." He rose from under the table and walked out.

This confused Sandbar, who had an even more perplexed expression. Scrunched lips, and both eyebrows raised. "Um...wha? Since when do you care about fairness?"

"Are ya gonna help me stop these creeps or not?" Bullet narrowed his eyelids until just slits of his retinas were visible. Then he turned his attention to the Hockey Mask team. "Ey! Ya'll call this some sorta Trick? Ya'll gotta stoop pretty low to even call this a halfway decent one."

The leader, a seaweed green inkling boy spoke in a muffled voice from behind his Hockey Mask. "Eh? What would you know about decent tricks, my dude?"

"That jackin' other folks' stuff off their plates is pretty darn low. 'Specially since these kids paid their hard earned Turf money on this food. Why don'tcha kick rocks and beat it before I make ya, son," Bullet removed his dualies from their holsters, and spun them on his fingers.

"Hoggin' the glory, eh?" Sandbar stepped up next to him with his own pair of dualies at the ready. "Don't be actin' like ya some kinda samaritan or nothin'."

"Tch, please..."

"Bahaha!" The dark green boy in the Hockey Mask let out a condescending laugh. "It's two versus four. You really think you can take us?"

"Last warnin' friend," Bullet stated with one of his dualies pointed at the 4 masked kids.

The leader folded his arms. "Then I suppose we have an itchy situation on our hands don't we?"


	23. The Truth

"I suggest ya back down now before-" Bullet ducked as an itching powder balloon whizzed past his head. "Guess that's a nah."

"Enuff'a dis!" Sandbar shouted, poised to attack.

The first two Hockey Mask kids lunged forward with their rollers in hand. They went in for a devious vertical swing at both the boys. This would proved fatal for the masked pranksters, as both dualie kids dodge rolled beneath their feet. With a quick roll and tumble, they rose up and grabbed the roller kids by their arms. The Splat Rollers landed on the floor with a thud, much to the horror of the masked duo.

Sandbar and Bullet pushed both the roller kids against a nearby wall, and fired a flurry of yellow and silver ink, which splatted them instantly. Their squid spectres floated away right after.

"Hm, not bad." The Hockey Mask leader stood alongside his partner. "Now that I have a bit of insight on what you can do, it's time to put it to the test." With a flick of the wrist, he spun his N-Zap '89 on his finger and clutched it tightly. "You will know our names-once we prank every major place of business in Inkopolis."

"Listen friend, pranks are one thing, but stealin' food and tips is somethin' else," Sandbar shot back, "I'mma let ya off with a warnin' this time and-"

His white haired friend interrupted him. "Ya serious? We gotta put these fools down now. Ain't nobody got time for warnin' shots. Why don'tcha fight me like a kid, Hockey!"

"Then I suppose we have reached an impasse." With a pull of the N-Zap's trigger, instead of ink, a grappling line launched out of the barrel, and coiled itself around Bullet's wrist.

"What the-?!"

Before he could formulate a proper reaction, the line pulled him towards "Hockey" and the dark green kid grabbed him by the neck with his hand. "Heh, you think you're the only ones who have anything inventive to add to your weapons? Hah! Foolish..."

Bullet strained from within the grip of the Hockey kid's hand, and stared into the eyeholes of the mask made him realize just what made them so scary in the first place. "Grr...lemme go!" Both of his hands tried to push away the one around his neck, but to no avail. His legs squirmed in vain.

"Hey let 'em go!" With no hesitation, Sandbar tried to stand up for his friend, but was subdued by the Hockey's partner. An arm went around his neck in a full headlock.

"Ahuhuhu...you didn't think it was going to be that easy did you?!" The voice was that of a deranged girl's. She held her Aerospray RG's nozzle against Sanbdar's abdomen. "We're gonna enjoy watching you and your friend suffer! Any last words big guy!?"

Silence from Sandbar. His response was not a verbal one, but rather physical. First he tossed his dualies into the air, which provided a momentary distraction. Followed up by a swift leg sweep for his captor to lose her balance and trip her to the floor.

"Oof!" Her back landed on the ground with a thud, but she quickly retaliated with a push off the ground to propel herself onto her feet with her Aerospray primed to fire.

This was met with a harsh forward kick by one of Sandbar's hunting boots. The force put a dent in the weapon, which rendered it unusable as well as the girl becoming staggered from the force applied. All the while, his dualies had still been in the air, and at last, fell back into his hands. "Drop it."

"What?!" The Hockey leader shouted in disbelief at the scene before his eyes.

Bullet took advantage of the leader's pause. He wrestled himself free of the hand around his neck, and pushed both feet off of the masked kid's body. Bullet flew backwards into the air, and pulled out his own dualies with ghostly dexterity.

"Vortex Huracan!"

With a spin, he fired his dual weapons, which sent a flurry of chrome ink at the N-Zap weidling joker. Bullet landed on the ground flawlessly after he shot off all the ink that his weapons carried. His color stained the leader's clothes, which left him on the verge of being splatted and forced him back against the wall with his partner.

"Gah! But how?!"

"Ya heard the dude. Drop yer weapons!" Bullet echoed his former partner's words.

The masked kids saw their situation critically and did as they were told. The Aerospray and N-Zap clattered on the floor.

Sandbar walked up to them. "The heck were ya'll even thinkin'? That ya could just walk up in here and act like ya own the place and steal people's food? I mean the itchin' powder's one thing but ya crossed the line when ya started stealin'."

"Hey hey!" The leader held up his hands in a plea of defense. "It was just a prank, bro!"

"Uh-huh...sure," Bullet gave a dismissive response. "Listen. If ya'll can just put money on the counter for whatcha took, ya can be on yer way. I'm quite frankly bored of ya punks."

"F-fine!" The Hockey Mask girl stood up, and tossed a bag of cash onto the counter from across the cafe. "Just...leave us alone!"

"Grr..." The leader pointed at them in a desperate attempt to come off as threatening. "You will regret this. Team Hockey can and will pull the ink over everyone's eyes before Splatoween. Make sure you lock your doors and sleep with an eye open tonight. Because you will never see us c-"

SPLAT!

Both the boys had fired a shot from their dualies, which splatted and sent the Hockey leader off in his spectral state like the other two. From there, they glared at the lone Aerospray user and that alone was enough to make her get up and nearly trip over her feet as she ran off.

"Whew...glad that's over." Sandbar sighed with relief and looked around the room. All the patrons had hid beneath their tables during the battle. And once the battle had ceased, they found it safe to exit their shelter.

"They did it! They fought the Hockey Hecklers off!" A blue boy shouted.

"Quite a stellar showing, mates!" A green girl cheered.

"You guys were flippin' awesome yo!" An orange boy shouted.

"They was like, zap! Bam! Pow! Like the fabled cowboy sheriffs that the humans used to have protecting them!" A teal girl yelled.

The cheering would continue, followed by clapping and eventually shouting of their names.

It soon became too much for the boys, though. They would awkwardly smile and nod before leaving the cafe and talking to each other outside.

"...Heh," Sandbar broke the silence between them. "Just like the old days..."

Bullet gave a sigh. "Yeah and it was annoying back then too..."

They started to think back to an identical scene from the past. Everyone cheering around the two boys who felt as if they were unstoppable. The major difference was that everything and everyone was much shorter.

"Listen, Bullet-"

The leather clad inkling cut him off. "You can drop that now. We both know that ain't mah real name. Besides, I got some other stuff I wanna say."

Sandbar folded his arms, and closed his eyes. When he opened them, he was willing to give his old partner his full attention. "...Go ahead...Esker."

The silver inkling blinked once, then twice out of surprise. His mouth slowly gaped open to reflect this. "I ain't never thought I'd see the day...now I can tell him everythin'."

"Alright...well, don't get anythin' twisted. I ain't some good guy or nothin'. I'm a vigilante by choice. I do what I want without regard for the law. And if you wanna follow the restrictions of the law and still try yer hand at justice..." A momentary pause before a smile grew on his face. "I can't help but respect ya for it. As much as I disagree."

"Haha." Sandbar chuckled and scoffed. "Pff, that's somethin' new comin' from you of all people Esker. And to be honest, if you wanna be a loose cannon with other loose cannons, das cool, just don't expect me to be in on it."

"No prob, my man." He nodded. "Anyway...I know ya loved Delta as much as I did. But make no mistake my dude, she knew what she was doin' when she made that choice. I just...felt like it was my duty as the leader to pressure someone else into splattin' that fool that made a mark on our turf."

The yellow boy's expression grew more serious. His eyes like daggers cut into Esker's own. "I was tryin'a tell ya from the get go. Torturin' people who come on our turf is just wrong, and you'd eventually get bit in the saddle for it. Now look at where ya are."

"Yeah...a crew of a few misfits all living under the same roof. That was not my intent for the new team I created. Barely scrapin' by on whatever chance we get to enact our idea of justice. It..it ain't the best situation but we try to have fun with it." Esker looked off to the side, towards the cafe where he heard all of the other kids cheering for him just moments ago. A frown made its way onto his face along with a silent plea of despair. It was as if he was seconds away from crying.

After he heard what his old friend's situation entailed, he couldn't help but feel a small twitch of sympathy in his heart, which he mentally swore at. "...Listen, ya want my advice?"

Nothing from Esker but a silent nod.

"Ask yer team what they wanna do with themselves, and then ask yerself the same question. And give it some time. You'll understand what yer meant to do if ya put it in yer head hard enough."

"Hm...sounds like a plan. I'mma give that some thought...and hey, you were pretty good back there. You been learnin' from combat tutorials or you been fightin' on a regular?"

"Ahaha..." Sandbar gave another chuckle. "Not giving that away, brother."

From behind, the doors swung open. Tortuga, whom had been afflicted with the itching powder as well, had now caught up to the boys to congratulate them. "Eyyy! That was a pretty dope battle ya boys had back there? So whaddya say? Did it remind ya of ya old days? Do ya respect and like each other like ya use to? Are ya...friends again?"

When they heard the purple girl spout her thoughts, the two boys looked at each other. They both exchanged the tiniest of smirks before Esker turned around. Hands in his pockets as he walked off.

"See ya around, punks," he raised one hand as he left.

"Not if I see ya first, loser," Sandbar jeered playfully as his old partner walked away.

"Whaaaaa?" Tortuga frowned and grabbed Sandbar by his shirt to shake him back and forth. "Are ya friends again or not?! Answer me before I tie ya tentacles into knots!"

He pushed her off him, and thought about giving an answer. Instead, Sandbar chose to not acknowledge the question, and put his hands in his pockets. "I'll see ya back at the HQ. I'm headin' to Arowana Mall to buy me some Splattermon Cards."

"...Grrr..." Steam came out of Tortuga's ears and her entire body was consumed by a red color akin to mercury rising on a thermometer. "YOU PEOPLE WITH YOUR STUPID EDGY NON-ANSWERS!"


	24. The Past

As Sandbar and Tortuga went to the cafe, Trident and Ravine had their own business to attend to.

"Holy shrimp! I can't believe Inkblot Art Academy wants me to oversee the new art contest for the youngsters. It's going to be a riot!" The spectacled boy exclaimed with glee as the pair neared the campus gates.

"Yeth...ah, stho many memorieths here," Ravine mused while looking skyward. "It seemths like justh yestherday when we graduated."

"Right? A most exemplary showing we had. Although, can't say I remember much outside of that..."

The two squid kids entered the campus and made their way inside the main school building. Along the way, they passed by several classrooms. They ranged from the small infant daycare where the baby squids were held. This was Stage 1 Class.

"Awww..." Ravine gushed over the tiny rainbow of squid forms that lied beneath blankets in the room. Her face against the small rectangular window of the class door.

"Ahem, let's keep moving," Trident commanded, and his friend began to follow.

"They were stho cute! Ooh, look!" The next door was Stage 2 Class. Through the window they saw small 1 year old squids crawling around and learning different colors. "Eeee, I'mma splode if I sthee another one!"

Trident gave a fond smile, and closed his eyes.. "Yup...those were the days. Now come, we can't dawdle any-" by the time his eyes were open, Ravine had disappeared. She was now standing in front of the Stage 3 Class door. "Gah.."

"Awww yeah, name that brush!" The class was filled with four-and-a-half year old squids that had started to grow legs, spell, and recite Turf Weapon names.

"Ravine can you not, pl-why do I even bother..." Trident pressed his palm against his face.

There were two classrooms left. Stages 4 and 5. The latter was a class for the 14 year old kids that had begun doing Turf War full time. However, the former...

"This is my stop," Trident grabbed his friend by one of her tentacle hairs to hold her in place. "Stage 4 Class. The 8 year olds." On the inside, this class had the closest looking true squid kids, but they were still somewhat blobby. They wore clothes had fully developed teeth, and were writing essays. "Today, the art contest is being held for the 8 year old class. And I was chosen to be the judge."

"Oooh. I bet it was cuz we were so good the last time we were here, we crushthed our testssssth!"

Trident had moved over to a different wall that had an accolades board on it. "Well, come see for yourself." On the board were pictures fo the most top performing classes in the history of Inkblot.

Each photo had a team of four with their signature weapons in hand, and a moniker next to their head which showcased their proficiency. "Hmm...Top Classes..." The pictures slowly changed from a grayscale format, all the way to a fully colored ones. Some of the modern class teams even began to feature Octolings as well.

"Here we are!" Ravine shouted while she pointed at a particular photo. It showed a much shorter, less developed version of Trident holding a charger with the text The Eagle, next to him, followed by a smaller Ravine holding her Brella open above her head with the nickname The Fiesty.

"Wow...things really have changed," Trident mumbled to himself. His eyes scanned across the photo to the two other kids that were on their classroom team. A yellow girl who held a Tri-Slosher with The Lightning next to her and a pale pink girl who held a Dynamo Roller with The Tank next to her. "...Hrm..."

"Oh yeth! Thosthe were our old classthmateths! Thunder and Current! I wonder if they're doing alright..."

Trident didn't say a word. The exact opposite, as he was now speechless with a light blush across his face, still staring at the class picture.

"...Hey, something wrong?"

"Nothin'...c'mon, we need to get to the Art Room where the contest is gonna be held," he came to his senses and the blush went away. He started to walk towards the Art Room with Ravine in tow. "And I better not see a clay volcano or some kid is getting a big fat..."

As he trailed off, the two pushed open the Art Room's doors, a Jellyfish came up behind and called out to them.

"I say, old chaps, is that Trident Salaria? And Ravine Watercourse?" It reached its blobby arms and grabbed them both around the waist to pull them in for a hug. "It is so nice to see two of the four top classmen of two years prior!"

They were initially surprised by the arm, but Ravine quickly embraced the jellyfish. "Professor Sting! Ith stho good to see you again!"

"Ohhh..." Trident came to the realization as well. "Very nice to see you sir. Um...how's the wife?"

"Oh she is doing very well. You both have to stop by sometime!" The jelly finally released the two. "Here to judge the younglings art, I see? So wonderful...I remember when you were both tiny and could barely write your names!"

"Well we have come a long way since we were little," Trident pointed out.

The jelly nodded his blobby head. "Oh I agree! When you were younger I remember you coming to me saying you didn't wish to be on a team of girls. And look at you now! You're more than willing to hang around them!"

The redness returned to the boy's face. "Um...w-wha..?"

Ravine looked more curious than anything. "Ooh, ooh! Tell usth a sthory about when we were younger, sir!"

"UH...NO!" Trident yelped before he cleared his throat. "I-I mean...the Professor is probably busy..."

"Oh pish posh. I have a good ten minutes to spare before I am needed to assist the Stage 2 Classes. Please have a seat."

The pair of squid kids sat on the bench next to the Art Room entrance. Trident covered his face with his hands while Ravine kicked her legs out of excitement. "Ready, sir!"

"Now let's see..." The jellyfish tapped his head as he recollected memories of the past...

It was a sunny day at Inkblot Art Academy. Trident was 8 years old and being dropped off for the first time at his new school. The cyan blob with inky arms and legs strutted to his classroom in a casual manner.

"Ah yes, it's coming back to me now," the jelly went on, "you two were in my class."

Once the boy got to his desk, a deep blue female squid blob sat to his right and gave a friendly wave. This prompted a more nervous wave from the boy in return as the younger, more muscular Professor Sting taught the lesson for the day.

"And you both stayed in your own peer groups, and you were both highly regarded among your friends."

Days would go by and the two would gravitate towards those of their own gender. Trident easily became popular with the boys due to his unmatched intellect. And Ravine with the girls due to her lack of fear in the face of bullies and general perky qualities.

"Then it was time for ya to be split into yer permanent school teams. And dear me, you two had quite the polarizing reactions..."

It started to come back into Trident's frame of memory. "Oh no..."

-LINE BREAK-

Just as the photo had displayed. The 8 year old inklings were given permanent Turf Teams for the school year. Trident, Ravine, Thunder-the yellow inkling girl in the class photo, and Current-the pale pink inkling girl in the class photo, were all on a team together.

He felt a bit worried at first, due to being on a team of nothing but girls. Despite this, Trident did his best to stay calm and collected as he always did.

That all changed one day, as the young Trident went to his locker. Some of his peers approached him.

A blue boy spoke, "Ooh...so you have three girlfriends, huh?"

"You're so lucky. Have you gotten any of 'em to kiss you yet~?" an orange bow followed.

A purple boy was next. "First comes love, then comes marriage. Then comes Trident with three baby carriages!"

The spectacled boy scowled. In the heat of the moment he tried to deflect every teasing comment. "Guys...stop. They aren't my girlfriends! Girls are yucky! I hate being on their team!"

"C'mon, bro, don't act like you haven't been watching them go to their lockers everyday!" The blue one teased again.

Seconds later, the blue girl whom he had first met stood between him and the others. "Hey! Leave him alone!"

"Oh look, it's the spitty one!" The orange boy jeered which made his friends snicker.

"Nevermind, there's no way he'd like you! You can't even talk right!" said the blue one.

"Oh yeah well at least he'sth got acthhual good greadesth and can get a girlfriend!" The small Ravine shouted back, "You inkheadsth can't!"

The jellyfish professor intervened next, pushing everyone apart with his extremely long arms. "Enough! You three, to class!" He looked at the trio of jokers and they immediately backed off. "And you two, it's time for your Turf Test. Move it!"

"Yes sir!" Trident and Ravine saluted and ran to their lockers.

The cyan boy looked at her. "Hey...thank you for standing up for me."

"Heheh...itsth no big deal."

Things would take a much darker turn for the boy as the day went on.

After the test was completed, Trident, Ravine, Thunder, and Current all took a moment to go over their results near the lockers. While they were busy chattering away, the same orange kid that had been teasing Trident ran up behind him, and pulled his pants down.

There was a delay in his reaction, as Trident only noticed once he felt a chill between his legs. "..." Then it was revealed that his pants were around his legs, and a pair of pink underwear was shown to everyone in the hallway at that time.

All eyes were on him, gazing at his underwear before the halls burst into an abundance of echoes and laughter. All except for Ravine who had given chase to the rogue orange kid that had pulled the prank.

Trident quickly grasped his pants and pulled them up again. But it didn't stop the laughter. Even Thunder and Current were cackling at his expense. Tears began to well up in his eyes, his lip started to quiver, and his legs carried him as fast as he could to the boy's bathroom where he proceeded to sob.

It took the entire faculty of the Academy to quell the laughter with double, and triple homework threats.

And much to his horror, it didn't end. As every day onwards, Trident would constantly be laughed at and pestered about the color of his undergarments. It took a toll on the boy, and he often spent his entire lunch break in the bathroom to avoid any more of the jokes thrown at him. Unfortunately however, each time he went to his locker, a girl from his class would tease him by offering him a pair of their pink underwear should he need a spare.

The only one who didn't take part in it was Ravine, as she did her best to support him.

"Hi..." the blue blob girl sat outside of the boy's bathroom and knew who sat on the other side.

Trident heard the voice and gave a quiet response. "H-Hello...Ravine."

"I'm sthorry about all thissth. You don't desstherve it."

"Thanks..."

The two would begin to spend more time with each other. Even after the heckling had simmered down. Both Trident and Ravine got to know each other and eventually became good friends as they got older. They both regained their identities as the smart and perky ones once more

Yet again, Trident's team participated in a Turf Test that resulted in a pass with flying colors.

"Yeah! Niceth job guyth!"

"As if there was any doubt," Trident responded with Thunder and Current both agreeing with a nod.

"Ooh, be right back," Ravine turned and ran towards the doors to go inside, "I have son cool Splattermon cards to show you!"

When she left, Trident was alone with his other teammates. They stood to wait for Ravine until...

"Gotcha!" Both the girls grabbed Trident bhis arms, and dragged him to an unseen area behind the school by force. "WE GOT HIM GIRLS!"

A swarm of other inkling girls from their class ran and followed...

By the time Ravine had returned with her deck of cards, she saw Trident alone. Lying on the ground in a fetal position while he faced away from her. "...T-trident...?"

When she got a look at his face, it was revealed to her. A plethora of kiss marks all over his face with varying ink colors.

The boy was shivering as if he was caught in a snowstorm. "It...it hurts..."

-LINE BREAK-

"And that is how you all finished off your test with flying colors and graduated!" Professor Sting shouted his praise.

In reality, Trident had been slowly remembering everything that had happeened to him in the Academy while his old teacher gave a concise retelling of their overall performance in school.

The cyan squid kid held both of his arms in each hand. He shook in his seat not unlike how he used to all those years ago...

Ravine gave a smile at the jellyfish. "Yeah! That wasth...so cool, sir! But we gotta get to the Art Room now, thanksth!"

As the jellyfish left, Trident started to mumble words. "...It...it's all so hazy...but the big ones...confounded brain reception!"

Ravine brought him in close for a tight hug. "Admittedly, I'm remembering all of that happened too. And that isth why I hate school..."

Trident put his arms around her. "Thank you."

"...Huh?"

"For always being there...and never leaving me."

The blue squid girl paused and put her arms around him more tightly as well. "Trident?"

"Yeah"

There was a pause before she made a wide grin. "I love ya!"

Repulsed, the boy broke the hug, his eyes turned to blank white disks. "DON'T JOKE WITH ME LIKE THAT!"

"HEEEHEEE!"


	25. The Present

"I have to make preparations in the Art Room," Trident said as he headed for the doors. "Kindly stay here and wait for my return, okay Ravine?"

She clung to his leg, "No! I can't! I needsth ya!"

The boy rolled his eyes and shook her off. "Go gush over the baby squids or something. I need to do help the faculty set things up."

Ravine made puppy eyes. "Awww...okay!" She giggled and waved as Trident left her alone for the Art Room.

"Hrm..." Now that she was solo, Ravine looked left, right. She tried to disicern what she would do next with her ample free time while her friend was busy.

"Hey Ravine!"

The blue girl turned around.

She saw two more inkling girls. One teal, the other a maple yellow. They both wore matching jerseys to represent Inkblot's Basketball team.

"One, Three-

"-Five, Nine!"

"What team kills it every time?"

After the chant, something inside of Ravine clicked to make her finish it. "Inkblot Brushesth...?"

The pair giggled and walked over to her. "What's up, girl? How ya been?"

"...Oh! I remember you guyth! Barbette!" When Ravine said the name, the teal inkling girl nodded, "and...Nulka!" It was the maple girl's turn to nod. "It'sth been stho long!"

"Like, I know right?" Barbette said with a valley girl twang in her voice. "It's been like, forever since we talked to each other!"

"I can't agree more!" Nulka shouted in a bold fashion with a raspy, brutish voice. "It's high time we got back toghether and hang, ya know?"

"Yeth!" Ravine nodded in agreement. "I wasth actually here to help Trident with the Art Contesth."

Both of Ravine's friends exchanged knowing smirks.

"No. NO. Don't even sthay a word!" She insisted, "It'sth justh for moral sthupport. I kinda disthlike modern art anyway."

"Uch, like right?" Barbette groaned, "It's like, a buncha scribbles and splotches on a board. EVen a baby squid could totally like, do that too."

"You ain't kiddin'. Say, while you're waiting why don't we go catch a movie?" Nulka suggested and showed a set of three tickets in her hand. "We were gonna ask Dreadnought if he wanted it. But he said he had to take care of some business with his Hockey Mask team."

"Oh, cool!" Her expression went from excitement to worry as she started to think about Trident. "Oh but, I'm supposed to wait for Trident's art thing to start. I dunno if-"

The doors of the Art Room swung open. "Okay, slight problem," Trident stood between the open doors with a sticky brown liquid dripping from his person. "SOMEONE thought it would be a good idea to make a flipping volcano. And if that wasn't bad enough, they filled it with diet Tentacola and mints!"

"Ooh...that must sthuck. Oh hey, you remember Barb and Nulk, right?"

"Like, hey!"

"Sup?" They both greeted him.

Trident was too busy rubbing himself with a towel to notice. "Yeah, yeah. Hi. Look, Ravine. Why not go ahead and do something else? This is gonna take a while to clean up off the floor so go on."

"Are ya sthure...?"

"Yes. I didn't mean to drag you all the way over here so go. I'll test you when things are ready to go. Gah, of all the dumb art projects...what happened to good old clay..."

The doors slammed shut behind him, and the three girls looked at each other with wide, toothy grins.

They made their way down the sidewalk together with Ravine between her old friends.

"Stho, what movie we gunna see, Barb?"

"Like, only the most raddest one to come out-Splaturday the 14th!" The teal girl announced, which prompted a smug grin from her dark yellow friend.

"Heck ye-heah! I love me some good spooks. Especially since Splatoween is around the corner."

Ravine's knees wobbled a bit. "Um...I'm not really into scary moviesth...but I'll give it a try!"

"Heh, that's awesome. Cuz to be honest..." Nulka leaned in and whispered to her friend. "I'm kinda scared too."

"So am I!" Barbette also leaned in and whispered beside Ravine. The trio of girl's faces mashed together.

They all stopped to laugh with each other for a moment. And in a few more steps, they arrived at Guplink Rank X Theater in the middle of Inkopolis. A busy, yet quiet movie house with red carpets along the floors, a giant snack bar with all of one could dream of, a soda fountain with every kind of Squid Cola, and the legendary Golden Popcorn Machine.

"Wooooah..."

The girls were amazed at what they saw. Their eyes and mouths widening with amazement.

"Now this is what I'm talkin' about!" Nulka shouted with her arms folded.

"Like, totes, you guys! They even got like, that golden popcorn machine!"

Ravine stopped to put her hand under her chin. "What'th so specthial about it?"

"Whhhaaa?" Both her friends gave her a perplexed look.

"It's made of like, real gold," Barbette explained. "Like, totally Goldie Salmonoid Scales and stuff."

Nulka spoke in agreement. "She's right! Popcorn that comes from that machine tastes like the buttery goodness of the gods!"

"I sthee...well, letsth go check it out." Ravine felt a buzz in her back pocket. She paused and took out her Squidphone to open up the text. "Hm..."

From: Tory

'Hey Ravs. Be on the lookout for some Hockey Masked weirdos who go around and steal people's stuff.'

"Like, Ravine, hurry up!"

"Oh, right, coming!" She put her phone away, but couldn't shake the thought of some Hockey Mask crew that caused trouble. It spun her head around as she gave it some hard mental attention. "Where have I heard that before...?"

After they purchased their overpriced snacks, the girls all went and sat down in the dark room. They all chattered and spoke quietly among each other as the lights dimmed down. The theatrical presentation was set to begin.

However, things got much more uncertain as the lights continued to dim beyond their intended level. To the point where they were shut off completely and left the room in pitch black darkness...

"H-huh?" Nulka sat on the edge of her seat. "W-what in the heck?"

"Like, chill out, Nulky. They prolly like, wanna make it totes extra spooky in here~" Barbette responded.

From behind them, the theater doors locked up with a clink.

Ravine shivered in her seat. "...Guyth...I don't think that'th what'th happening..."


	26. Trials

"So what's this special costume of yours, my man?"

"Hehe...prepare to be astonished when I reveal my greatest creation, Sandy," Trident replied as he led his friends through his house and up to his bedroom.

All around the room they saw many pieces of paper strewn about the floor, with his messy bed in the middle of it all. To their left, a shelf with various awards and medals for his intellect and chess displayed proudly. To the right was a closet, which Trident walked towards.

"Here it is," he said while he retrieved the Halloween costume from the inside, "prepare yourselves, everyone." Trident turned around with a hanger in his hand. On it was a steampunk costume that dangled freely.

"Eh?" Sandbar gave a confused tilt of his head, "that just looks like a buncha brown rags."

"No no! It'll look better once I get it on, wait a second," Trident rushed into the bathroom with the costume. A few moments later, the cyan squid kid exited wearing a brown suit and tie with matching brown pants. Along with it, his right arm was set in a sleeve that transformed it into a cybernetic enhancement. Lastly, there was a monocle swapped out for his usual glasses, and a brown top hat. "Zis iz my costume! I call it, ze Steam Connoisseur!"

"Oh wow!" Ravine shouted her praise and got up close to inspect every inch of the costume. "It looksth so cool! Did you make all thisth yoursthelf?"

"Indeed! This fake arm was a bunch of Tentacola cans I found," Trident explained, "I just had to reshape them."

Tortuga's eyes shot open. "...Wow. I ain't never heard of a way to turn cans into a flippin' metal arm before."

Sandbar folded his arms. He couldn't deny his friend's costume was amazing. Seeds of doubt were now planted in his mind as he wondered if his own costume would compare. However, he decided to shift his focus elsewhere. "Alright, it does look pretty darn good. But we need to set up the trap so them bozos will come after it."

"Already done," Trident called out from the bathroom while he changed back into his regular clothes. "I have a tracking device implanted in the costume, so there's no way we'll lose it."

"Alright, then let's get movin' already," Tortuga ordered.

Outside...

The trap was set. The team had left Trident's costume near the window on its hanger, and hid underneath his bed in squid form. All was silent...until a figure dressed in black approached the house. It seemed to be a kid dressed in traditional ninja attire with only its eyes visible through a black mask they wore.

In a flash, the four would blink, and the costume would disappear. In response, Trident looked at his Squidphone with a smug smile of sorts. "That is what I was waiting for. Give it a moment, though. We don't wanna be caught while following them."

They crawled out from the bed and changed to their kid forms.

"Alright, they seem to be headed to a remote hillside near the edge of the county," Trident relayed the information based on what his tracker showed.

Sandbar compounded this by doing a bit of research on his phone as well. "Yeah, up by where them cherry blossoms come out. It looks pretty far but maybe there's a way to get there faster. Anyone?"

They all fell silent. Tortuga in particular gave it some heavy thought until she reached a conclusion. "Cherry blossoms. Now that does sound familiar. When I was trainin' to be Agent 5, we was at this mountain that overlooked a valley of pink trees. Maybe das it?"

"Aha!" Trident snapped his fingers, "Mount Nantai. It has to be it. It's a large, erected landmass that overlooks several valleys. It's possible that's where our quarry is headed."

Ravine was silent the entire time as she rubbed her left arm. She looked down, and off to the side, as if something weighed heavily on her mind.

"Something wrong, Ravs?" Tortuga broke her concentration on the floor with her words.

"Huh? Oh yeah, uh...nothing! Great job figuring it out, guyth!" She said while she strained a smile. 'Darnit girl...why couldn't you just think faster or something? Ugh...'

"Alrighty..well, we should get goin'" Tortuga said, "I know the way to the mountain which can use a sewer grate to get to."

With their newfound knowledge, team followed the purple girl's instruction. They would be led to a grate as she previously mentioned. Once they turned into squid form, they were able to slip through and make their way through a series of unforgiving pipelines that ran underground.

In a matter of moments, the four found themselves spat out of another grate at the very edge of a rural town. In the distance, a mountain rose above the horizon that Tortuga immediately recognized.

"Yup. Das it. That's Mount Nantai. Waaaay over there," she said.

Trident looked at his phone, and took note of how much closer the costume was. "Okay well, now we just have to follow the tracking signal. It's through this town," he pointed to the main street which the town resided on, which led to a large, elegant palace at the very end of it.

"...Somethin' tells me that's where our target's at," Sandbar commented as he noticed the wide building in the distance. "Just a hunch."

"Guyth, look!" Ravine meanwhile, had already dashed ahead of her friends and was busy wrapped into the scenery of this new environment. "Thisth placeth looksth awesthome!"

Lanterns adorned each of the buildings. Each one with more traditionally imperial architecture compared to the modern state of Inkopolis. Pink leaves blew in the wind, scattered about the ground every so often, but strangely, no one in sight for as far as they could see.

"I've read about this," Trident said as they all walked together along the singular road through the town, "the humans used to have structures like these in certain areas of the world. The called is 'Asia' if I'm not mistaken. The lanterns are meant to bring luck. The cherry trees represent love. And so on..."

Tortuga rubbed her chin, "Huh...then why ain't nobody around? Coulda sworn I saw some kids out the corner of my eye when we first got here. But now it's just a ghost town outta nowhere? Suspicious."

"Well, whatever may be happenin', I bet we'll git our answers from that big castle over yonder. I mean look at the size of the thing!" He rose his arms to add emphasis, "You can't tell me that this buildin' ain't home to some big billy ruler or somethin'. That's gotta be it."

"Hm..." Trident gazed at his phone, "Considering my device is telling us to arrive there..."

Ravine meanwhile, had been running back and forth to try and locate any signs of life. "Hello? Anyone? We're looking for a costhume theif!" She sniffed, and caught a peculiar scent on her nose. "Ooh, susthi! All thisth runnin' around made me hungry. This way, guyth!" The blue girl started to run ahead of them, with her friends nearly baffled.

"Wait, stop-!" Trident tried to shout, but found no use. He began to sprint after her as well.

"Dangit, ya'll we don't wanna git kicked out when we barely git here!" Sandbar yelled, and began to run after his cyan friend.

Tortuga sighed to herself and simply copied their run in order to catch up.

After much protest, Ravine had finally stopped at the entrance to the grand palace. Adorned with a golden door and statues of samurai squid on either side.

She sniffed against the door. Her eyes locked onto whatever was behind it as if she were trying to channel x-ray vision. "The sushthi. I can smell it. We must go!"

By the time each of her friends had caught up to her, they were out of breath from running in kid form.

"W...wait...hold on!" Trident did his best to slow her down, but Ravine had already knocked on the door several times by then.

"Cod...dangit, man..." Sandbar said in between breaths.

Tortuga tried to walk up to the door and stand between her blue friend. "Can you...not just rush into things? How do you know these guys ain't just complete savages?!"

"Honesthly, you don't trusth people enough, Tory. Give 'em a chanceth."

When the door finally opened, a kid about their size who wore traditional black ninja garb was there. "State your business."

"Yes, um..." Trident got ahead of them and began to explain. "We're here to inquire the possibility of...Halloween costumes being stolen. Do you perhaps know anything about this?"

The ninja squid paused. "So you all have finally shown up..." the squid kid stood aside to allow them in. "The Empress will see you now."

The four were confused. First the lack of any life around the town, and now there was no hostility from the supposed culprits. They exchanged looks with each other before they made their way inside. The team made their way through and found themselves in a grand interior that mirrored the exterior.

The walls were lined with historic black and white paintings, family heirlooms, and elegant displays of riches. With each step they would pass under another grand chandelier made of solid gold.

Each of them were astonished by the sheer amount of quality materials they were witnessing. From the soft carpet under their feet to the smell of food that was beyond anything they had ever had in Inkopolis.

Finally, at the end of the hall was another set of doors guarded by two more squid kids wearing samurai gear not unlike the statues outside. They opened the doors up, and at the end of this room was a jewel-encrusted throne with a figure wearing a white dress seated upon it.

"So it is you..." her quiet voice echoed around the throne room while the four kids stepped inside. The doors boomed behind them as they closed. "You are here to try and retrieve your beloved costumes, yes?"

Silence among the four until Sandbar was the first to speak. "...Howdy. And yeah. That's what we here for, missy."

"Blegh..." she scoffed at his words. "You shall henceforth refer to me as Empress Hakodate of the Hakodate Clan."

Tortuga's eyes narrowed down to slits. "Okay well, we just want the costumes back. Including the one you stole from Pearl!"

"Yeah!" Ravine added, "Sthealing isth wrong and you should feel bad for it!"

Trident panicked internally. An alarm went off in his head to let his friends know of the danger they had just put themselves in. "Guys, you can't just speak like that to her, she's a superpower!" he said with sweat running down his face.

"SILENCE!" The Empress stood up from her throne. "If you wish to obtain your precious costumes for your yearly...ritual. Then you will now be subjected to a trial."

"Eh? Trial of what kind?" Sandbar asked.

"Trial...by combat."


	27. Trials 2

"...Excuse me?"

"You heard me!" The EMpress shouted at Trident's question. "You each will face my warriors in a one-on-one battle. If you manage to win at least three times, you may have the costumes back. Do I hear any objections?"

There was a light pause in the room before the four kids snapped their fingers and huddled together in a similar manner to a sports team with their arms across each other's backs to form a circle.

"Guyth...what shthould we do?" Ravine asked.

"We ain't got time for no riffraffin'," Sandbar complained, "but we ain't got no other choice neither..."

Tortuga spoke up. "Grr...just leave it to me, ya'll. I'mma go first." She then broke the huddle and shouted her response to the Empress' demands. "Yeah, we accept. In fact, I'mma go first too!" The dark purple girl stepped forward, her arms spread wide in anticipation. "Okay, who is it? I'mma bust ya kneecaps!"

"Your opponent..." the Empress gestured her hand towards the door on the opposite end of the room from which a teal Octoling boy entered.

The Octoboy stepped forward, much to the team's surprise, wearing a black martial arts uniform and a blindfold that covered his eyes. "...I can sense a ton of things from you. You're a brutish one...misguided as well."

"Oh I'mma show you misguided!" Tortuga snapped while she stretched her arms and legs.

The Empress went on. "This is Mizu. A Octoling Boy afflicted with an unfortunate blindness at birth. Do not let that ease your mind, however. As he utilizes unconventional methods to track his foes."

"Yeah yeah, whateva. Let's just get this done already," Tortuga got prepared to battle and raised her fists.

"Round 1..." The Empress announced from her seat. "FIght!"

The skirmish started off fast. Tortuga ran towards the blind octo with reckless abandon as she reeled her arm back to throw a right hook.

Much to her surprise, she was quickly subdued. The boy blocking her punch with one hand despite his obvious inability to see.

"Wha?!"

In the seconds that followed, Mizu would deliver a harsh kick to her midsection that sent Tortuga backwards. She tumbled against the throne room's tile before she skid to a stop.

"I've seen much worse," the boy said, "don't trouble yourself, please."

From the sidelines, her friends watched on. Trident did his best to gauge the opposition with notes. "So it seems likely that he uses his other senses to listen in...we'll have to keep watching to get a good idea."

"Go Tory! You can do it!" Ravine yelled from her end of the room.

Sandbar curiously remained quiet through his friend's own evaluations.

"Okay, ya ain't bad," Tortuga rose to her feet. The kick didn't seem to have lasting effects as she shrugged it off. "I've been in a ton'a fights. But I ain't fought nobody that was...ya know."

"Heh. Disabled?" Mizu had a smirk across his face. "If you pay attention, you'll find the answer you're looking for." In his hand, a small ball of teal ink formed that matched his own color. Then he followed his action by morphing it into a more condensed sphere the size of a baseball before he launched it at Tortuga.

"...?!" She dodged one. Then another, and another. The inkballs were constantly hurled at her which caused a teal splatter to form in a puddle behind her. "WHat?! How ya doin' that?"

"Years of practice...and ink channeling." He soon ceased lobbing the projectiles after a moment, and this time ran towards the girl to throw a punch to which Tortuga dodged yet again.

They both began throwing a series of punches at each other. Both kids blocked each other's attacks seamlessly all while the Empress watched on with silent amusement.

"Curious," Trident mumbled under his breath while he stroked his chin. "It seems as if he's managed to channel the ink in his body in order manifest it without the need of a weapon. I've...never seen this before."

Sandbar continued to remain silent while Ravine never ceased her cheers. "Yeah get 'em good, Tory! Knock him on his tentacles!"

"You seem to have quite the array of friends," Mizu commented while he evaded one of Tortuga's strikes, "I'm kinda jelly to be honest. Friends are temporary."

She took a step back to pause her actions. "WHat? Are ya loose in the head? No they ain't! Ya friends stick with ya foreva. So long as ya treat 'em right."

"Tch...If you say so," the boy responded in a dubious fashion. "Shut up and face me. We aren't done."

"Fine, but can I ask? How...didja go blind?"

There was a silence before Mizu gave a response. "Didn't you hear the Empress? I was born this way. The forces didn't bless me on that day so what does it matter? I fight for her and that's all."

"...I don't think that's the case," Tortuga went on, "I ain't got none of that ethereal mumbo-jumbo, but ya seem like ya in some sorta pain."

"What's she doing...?" Ravine's demeanor changed as she looked to Trident for an answer.

He exchanged the look. "I am not sure...she doesn't tend to solve problems with her mouth unless it's a Seanwich eating contest. Usually it's just her fists."

"This ain't about fightin', ya'll." Sandbar finally broke his silence.

"Huh?" The kids looked at their yellow friend.

Sandbar raised a skeptic eyebrow. "This some sorta...test. I can feel it in mah bones."

Meanwhile, in their 'battle' the two continued speaking.

"Silence," Mizu said, "You don't know anything about me."

"Yeah you right," Tortuga responded. "I don't butcha ain't gotta just feel like you some kinda puppet. This ain't got nothin' to do witcha blindness, by the way. I mean it. I've been through the same sorta stuff myself. At one point I thought I just needed someone to tell me what to do...gimme orders. Like I could be some kinda supaweapon. But I ain't...I'mma kid. And you are too. So just...try and enjoy yaself."

From the throne, a slow, methodical clap sound could be heard followed by a dainty sort of laugh from the Empress. "Ohohohoho! Entrancing...you have passed the first test."

"Wait wha?" Tortuga tilted her head in confusion before the octoboy turned to exit the room. "...WHat's goin on here?"

The Empress ignored the question, and instead pointed to Trident. "You. Spectacled one. You are next."

"Huh? Oh...alright?" The cyan squid stepped forward and his dark purple companion moved out of the way.

"What wazzat about?" She asked Sandbar and Ravine. In return she got a shrug from them both.

Their attention turned to the Empress, who began to explain Trident's trial. "Your opponent...is here."

From the same door Mizu came out of, a lime green inkling girl whose hair was in a frizzy jumbled mess would greet Trident. She had a deranged toothy smile along with the fact that her head involuntarily twitched every so often. She wore a simple brown cloak that was twice her size and draped most of her body. "Hehehe...hiiii..."

Trident took a long look at his opponent, rubbed his eyes with his hands, and blinked in an exaggerated fashion. "...Seriously? Why do I get the weird ones? This has to be some sort of divine joke at my expense at this point..."


	28. Trials 3

"Your opponent is Senpu. Begin." The Empress said aloud.

Trident was given no time to react. The lime-green inkling girl moved with a blur of her ink color that trailed behind her. Too fast for anyone in the room to visually keep track of. So fast that Trident's face could only contort into an expression of shock for a split second.

"...WHA-"

It was too late as his body was already struck one, two, three four times from different directions in the span of two seconds.

"Aie!-ow!-wai!-what?!"

Each hit made Trident stumble. And once Senpu's assault was finished she returned to the spot in front of him to taunt the boy.

"Hehehe...you're slow! You can't even look at me when I hit you! Look at me when I hit you!"

Trident rubbed his forehead with his palm. "Grr...I've never seen anyone move that fast in kid form. You'd have to have 100 gear slots filled with Run Speed Up to get to that point."

"Oh yeah, I do," was the girl's casual response.

His brain exploded. "What?! But that's impossible! Hats, clothes, and shoes can only have 4 slots each for a max of 12. How could you possibly have 100 slots without illegaly modifying your gear?! It doesn't make sense! That's not how it works!" Steam rose out of his head, his face red as a beet. The lack of logic going into this girl's gear had set him off completely.

"Oh yes! Please get angry! I can sense your heart pumping ink at ten times the usual rate~!"

Once more, Senpu ran in an omni-directional blitz that Trident couldn't keep up with. She ran so fast this time that it looked as if there was multiple versions of her that struck from all eight cardinal directions

Shlick! Shing! Schlip!

The sounds of more swift, almost sharp strikes struck Trident from all sides at what seemed like several times per second. Along with the voice of Senpu cackling as she attacked the boy.

And with each strike, the cyan kid responded with simple grunts of pain. Strangely, however, he didn't flinch. His seething anger towards the fallacies created by the girl's illogical statements had thrown him into a fit of rage. His entire skin tone was a shade of burnt crimson mixed with steam flying off of his head as if he had a Special Weapon ready to use.

"Eeep!" Ravine shrieked from the end of the room as she and her friends watched the events unfold. "I can't watch thisth! Leave him alone!" "He's so strong...they all are. What can I do? I can't fight..."

"Landsakes..." Sandbar grumbled to himself. "He takin' it like a champ. That girl's impossible gear logic is makin' him so angry that he's like a steamed veggie only smarter."

Tortuga stared in silence. Her mouth contorted into that of shock as her lips changed to a concerned frown mixed with wide eyes.

"Ahaha!" The lime green girl continued to laugh without a care as she pummeled him. "Can't catch me! Nya nya! Weak-wah oof!"

Throughout her speeding frenzy she had gotten arrogant and failed to notice when Trident put his foot out for her to trip over. "That's quite enough out of you," he said in a surprisingly calm manner despite his anger management moments before, "A dishonorable fool such as yourself doesn't deserve a place in this house."

The Empress sat up in her seat. Her interest piqued by what the boy had boldly stated. "Excuse me? How dare you talk to one of my subjects in such a way? Is that any way for a gentleman to treat a lady?!"

"I don't care whatever the heck she is! She is a mockery to your entire system of honor!"

"And pray tell? What do you know of honor, boy?"

Trident grabbed his opponent by her coat. "I noticed that the previous opponent for my friend Tortuga was capable of translating ink into physical form without a weapon. And now all the sudden this girl can run faster than anybody? I'm not buying it." He tore the coat off of Senpu, which exposed her frail form underneath with a basic white tee.

"Behold!" From the inside of the jacket pockets there were multiple Run Speed Up chunks stored in the pockets all over. "Not only are her abilities not her own, but she smuggled them into her coat with no regard for the Hakodate honor system; which states that outside forces are not permitted in any legal battle. Thereby she has stained your entire code!"

The Empress raised a hand to her concealed chin. "...I am curious as to how you managed to figure that out so quickly."

"The text around your walls outside," Trident explained, "they're hard to make out but still have hints of the Inkling language in them. But look, let's not get off track here. This girl here is a cheater."

Senpu rose to her feet and swiped her coat from his hands before she took her leave. "Heh...not bad, Squishy."

"Indeed," the Empress agreed. "You have passed your trial. And should you pass the next one, you will be free to take your costumes."

Trident paused and began to process what had just transpired. "Wait...huh...oh..."

Nearby his friends were equally surprised. With Ravine being the most relieved.

"Oh...he'sth okay. But wow, I never knew being angry could make you so...strong."

"It's called a pain threshold," Tortuga explained while she leaned against the wall. "Basically if you're upset at something to a point where that's all you're focused on, some things don't even register in your body until moments later."

"Owowow...my face..." Trident made his way back over to his friends with a few bruises across his cheeks here and there. "But it was worth it...ow I can't even speak..."

Ravine held onto him and caressed his face. "Shh...you'll be alright." She pulled him into a hug and pressed their faces together. "You were stho awesthome up there..." "Please don't ever do that again..."

Both Sandbar and Tortuga laughed quietly to themselves at the sight.

"The last trial will now begin," the Empresses proclaimed and pointed to Ravine. "You. Step forth."

"Wh-wha? Me? Why?" Ravine let Trident go and started to freak out. Her knees shook combined with her entire body shivering. "I-I can't fight!"

"Ah...so you forfeit."

Ravine didn't want to disappoint her friends, but she knew she was unprepared to face whatever was going to be presented to her. She took a moment to swallow her fear as her lips contorted into a wiggly line. "...Okay fine! I can do it! Bring it on!" she blurted out as she made her way towards the center of the room.

Once there, she would find herself against a ninja kid that looked similar to the ones who were at the front room of the Empress' palace. Except this one wore a pair of shades that concealed their eyes.

Ravine was even more nervous than before. She still had no idea how to properly fight, and was still amazed at what Trident managed to accomplish in his own trial. "What can I do...?" she thought as she stared at the ninja kid.

"You lack conviction," the ninja jeered at her, "your knees, they shake. Your drive, it's fake. You don't wish to fight, so why try? Why bother if you know you will fail?"

"Um...uhh..." Ravine nearly broke down. Sweat was rolling down her face and her head snapped to look at her friends. "I...I have to! For my buddiesth!"

Her opponent simply scoffed at her shaky words. "Feh...you disgust me with your lies. Prepare for combat!"


	29. Trials End

"Okay...I can do thisth...you don't scare me, ninja dude! I've been practicthing my own unique marthial arths!" Ravien shouted in protest. Her friends exchanged confused looks at each other from the sidelines, meanwhile. Absolutely no one, not even Ravine herself knew what she was saying.

"Oh? And just what that might be little miss coward?" Her opponent spat back at her expense. "Most of the elite guard are made of the most well trained females that we can muster. And you call yourself an asset to your own team? Look at yourself. You can't even think of a way you would stand a chance against me."

"That...that'th not true...!" Ravine shouted back with a stark shade of hesitance. "I do plenty for my team!"

"Is that so?" The ninja kid replied, and looked towards her friends. "I can tell each of them have something that makes them an asset just by looking at them. The yellow boy for instance. He seems plenty aggressive. Perhaps your main form of attack?"

Sandbar did nothing but scoff at the comment.

"The light blue spectacled one, he feels like your playmaker. The strategist. The most intellectual of you all."

Trident, who had done his best to get over the bruises he had from his scuffle, managed to come up with something to say. "Grr...it's a scare tactic. They're trying to make you feel insecure, Ravine. Don't listen to them."

The ninja squid laughed. "Heh! Sure, just run away from your problems. That is why your purple friend is here to keep things in check isn't she? She's the leader, the one who regulates every action and coordinates your moves."

Tortuga balled her quivering fist.

"So let me ask you something...what special aspect of yourself contributes to this team? What do you bring to the table? Hm?"

Ravine was unable to process a response. Bombarded with all of her deepest fears put her in a state of shock. Her body wobbled which made her lose balance, and she eventually fell to her knees. "I...I dunno...I don't know what I'm good for. I've always felt like I was dragging behind my friendsth but I tried to ignore it becauseth my feelings tend to get in the way a lot of the time..."

"And that is exactly why you're weak," the ninja reiterated, "by trying to not let your feelings control you, you let your feelings control you. How oxymoronic...you should just quit now and leave them. They'll be far more useful without you."

"Thas a loada carp and ya knows it!" Tortuga yelled at the top of her lungs. "Ravey, you one of the most carin' and kind kids I know! Ain't nobody more sweet than you!"

Sandbar joined in. "Darn tootin'! You don't need to be smart or strong, you're you! Das all that matters, man!"

Trident stared at his friends and placed his forehead against his palm. "Ugh...how cliche. And yet, I am compelled to add my own dialogue to this scenario. Ahem," he cleared his throat and made a motion to speak. "I agree! You have an unmatched aura of general happiness that can't be ignored! No matter what, we always find a reason to stay jovial when you are around!" He cleared his throat once more, and spoke to himself, "Hm...and now here comes the power of friendship's willpower resuscitation."

Ravine took her friend's words to heart. With newfound confidence, she rose to her feet. "They're...they're right...I'm the one that providesth the tender support we need. We can't justh be stheriousth all the time, and every now and then we could useth a good laugh! And I bet none of you guysth even remember each other's birthday'sth!"

The ninja paused before replying. "Well...such trivial information is not needed. All we are concerned with is serving the Empress."

"Oh grow up!" Ravine shouted, "All of you don't have anything better to do than stand around all day talking about how much you love serving this lady? What about your people outside? Where are they? Do they not matter? Do you not care?!"

"Well...of course..."

"LIAR! When was the last time any of you actually went outside to check on the people who live there?! Huh? Life isn't about just doing things on your own to just be the strongest edgy nerd you know! If anything you're the weak ones here!"

"Enough!" The Empress raised her voice louder than Ravine had been, which got everyone's attention. "I will not allow you to insult my court so blatantly." She snapped her fingers.

Two ninja squids hauled a large brown sack that looked to be the size of a small car into the room.

"There are your costumes," the Empress said as she sat back down. "Now leave. And never come back."

The four were confused, but didn't want to question it. They all raced towards the bag and grabbed it before they headed out of the palace.

Back in Inkopolis...

The team had returned the costumes to everyone in Inkopolis. Much to the praise and adoration of all the cephalopod kids that lived there. Now Halloween would go on without any trouble.

Despite this, the crew was still worried over what had transpired. They all met at their dark purple friend's garage as usual.

"Well that was pretty anti-climatic..." Tortuga grumbled under her breath.

"Maybe, but at least we got the costumes back. Although I'm wonderin' what she was plannin'..." Sandbar mused.

Trident rubbed his temples. "Whatever is going on over there, I hope they remain isolationist. They lack any true form of discipline or logic."

"...I'm sorry, guysth."

Trident tilted his head. "Hm? Whatever for, Ravine?"

"You had to yell at me so I'd realize I'm more than valuable to this team. That dumb ninja kid was just getting in my head..."

"Hey now, it ain't ya fault," Sandbar replied to comfort her, "you was doin' just fine before that fool messed with ya, anyhow. Ain't nobody as carin' as you are. Not to mention your amazin' cookin' skills."

Trident chuckled. "Agreed. Your mere presence brings the spirits up whenver you're around. Plus...I will admit that the snacks you make for us are very great."

"Yeah, what dey said," Tortuga nodded in agreement. "You ain't worthless. If anythin' yous da only one keepin' us from losin' our minds half the time."

Ravine's cheeks grew a faint shade of crimson from the compliments she recieved. "Oh...thanksth guysth. But sthill...if there'sth more I can do I wanna be able to help out. You're my besth friendsth. And I want you all to be happy. It justh sucksth that those Hakodate people can't figure out how."

"Hmph. I have a feeling that we will be encountering them once again at some point," Trident thought aloud, "there are many things that I would've liked to study and figure out about their city. Mainly why we didn't see anyone around..."

"TORTUGA GET IN HERE!" A loud, masculine voice boomed from behind the door that connected the garage and the house.

The dark purple girl rose from her seat without a word. Her friends could only watch on with equally troubled looks spread across their faces.

"Is ev-"

The voice was cut off by a blunt reply from the girl. "Shut up, everything's fine." And she disappeared behind the white door into her house where even more faint yelling could be heard by the same gruff voice.

The remaining three at the table in the garage could only stare at each other in an awkward silence.


	30. Case Arc 5: A True Fiend

After much deliberation, Trident had finalized his plans to move forward in order to figure out what was going on with Tortuga at her home. However, the fear of her protective parents made him apprehensive. So in turn, his personal course of action was to seek assistance.

"Hm...I could ask Ravine...but no. I wouldn't dare put someone like her in such peril. Maybe a walk will help clear my head..."

His mind made up, Trident left his house to take a casual stroll down the sidewalk of Inkopolis. After a few turns down a street or two, he would arrive at a local hardware store.

"Hm..." Trident stood outside of the store and looked in. The front window had a display case that featured a delicate toolset filled with small drills, nails, and screws. His attention was almost overtaken by it. "I could use something like that for my weapons. Wait a second..." Now, something else had caught his attention from within the store behind the display he was looking at. A familiar looking head of tentacles with suction cups all over.

"...Could it be?"

Trident walked inside, and made his way over to the left side of the store near the power drill section. The tentacle hair he saw belong to an Octoling girl that looked awfully familiar to him. Except now she was sporting apricot colored ink and a set of normal clothes; a red flannel jacket, shorts, and green tennis shoes.

"I...excuse me," the cyan boy walked up to her with an inquiry, "so sorry but you look strikingly similar to someone else I know."

The Octoling gave a nonchalant response. "...I do, huh?"

"Yes, well..." Trident put his hands together. "Is your name...Marsha perhaps?"

"...Woah. Uh...yeah?" The girl was shocked with an uneasy frown that grew on her face. "Like, how do you know my name?"

"It's me, Trident. Remember?"

It took a moment but after she stared at the sky blue boy's face she began to recollect what occurred the last time they had met. "...Oh! It's you! You're the one that put that song on my phone and broke the mind control. Thanks, by the way."

"It was no trouble," was his bashful response while he rubbed the back of his head, "I saw fit to help you through it because you didn't deserve the hand you were dealt in this unfair game of life."

"Yeah...sucks, but I appreciate it. If you ever need anything just let me know." She put her arm around his neck to playfully ensare him.

Trident visibly tensed before he moved out of the girl's grasp. "Yes, well..." he cleared his throat and adjusted his glasses straight, "...I will let you know."

Marsha gave a small giggle. "Yup. You're still just as adorable as the last time I met you." She giggled once more when the boy folded his arms out of spite. "So, what's someone like you doing here? I wouldn't really peg you for a tool guy."

His expression softened and he loosened his arms. "Oh. Well I'm not really into the heavy machinery. I'm more a fan of the smaller, much more intricate tools such as the allen wrenches and nuts."

Marsha grew interested. As eviendenced by her hot pink eyes that expanded out of wonder. "Really? What sort of stuff do you use that on?"

"Mostly whatever mother needs fixed around the house," Trident explained. To show what he meant, he walked to a display and picked out an eyeglass kit. "One can utilize all sorts of smaller tools to accomplish tasks that normally require bigger ones."

"...Fascinating. Meanwhile I'm busy looking for simple things to get some artwork onto the walls. Brook and I recently found a place, see."

Trident was happy to hear that name. "Oh yeah? That's right, I forgot to ask. Are you two making it here okay?"

"Well it was fairly easy but everyone just...accepts us. I noticed other Octolings around here a while ago so it wasn't too difficult. I never realize that our kind could get jobs too."

"Ah yes. That was going to be my next query. Where do you work?"

She pointed outside to a building across the street. "I got a simple job working the register at that pizza place over there. Pete Za's I think it's called."

"Ooh. Nice starting point," Trident said with a smile of approval, "they have delicious homemade pizzas that are made with almost no grease. It's almost impossible."

"Mm-hmm. It's part of the reason why I decided to work there. It's healthier than a lot of things served nearby. Like Crusty Sean's stuff."

Trident laughed. "Haha! Yes, it is difficult to put down the Seanwiches if you aren't careful. I deduced that there's some sort of addictive element in them. And then I concluded: Nope. Kids our age have an insurmountably low level of self-control." He put his hand to his chin. "Come to think of it. I imagine that's why he doesn't accept Cash. Most of us would be flat broke by now."

Marsha couldn't help but laugh at the thought. "Heh. Makes sense to me. So anyway, I'd love to chat with you some more but I need to get going. Brook and I need to get our place in order so we can start thinking about what we wanna do next."

"Ah, I see. Farewell then. I wish the best of luck for you both," he said, which prompted a parting wave from Marsha. But before Trident was content with leaving, he had a recollection of what he set out to do this morning. "Hang on now...she's tough, and probably has experience with tasks such as infiltration. Maybe..."

On her way out of the hardware store, the apricot Octoling was approached by Trident yet again. "Hold on a second. What if I offered to help you?"

"Hm? Oh heck. My guy, you've already done so much for me and Brook that I dunno how to feel." She said with a small chuckle.

"No no, it's fine," he assured her. "In fact, I not only want to see how Brook is doing, but to also ask a favor of you both."

Marsha nudged him with her shoulder. "Heh. Sure. Anything for a friend, right? That's how this works, yeah?"

Trident closed his eyes and let out a toothy smile. "Of course. We wouldn't have it any other way now would we?"

As the two made their way down the sidewalk, an unknown observer had exited the store after they did. A dark skinned inkling boy with a yellow-green ink color.

"Target check. Moving to further observe and possibly engage."


	31. Bad Family Ink

A hulking figure approached the front door. They were so tall that their face was hidden behind the top of the door from the inside. All Trident could see was someone wearing jeans and a messy T shirt standing there.

"Can I help you?"

Trident stood silent while he stared at the hulking figure. "Um...sir. It has come to my attention that my friend Tortuga has been caged in her home for well over a month now. I have simply come to check up on her."

Silence from the tall figure, before the door was promptly slammed in the boy's face. So hard that it created a gust of wind that snapped the band that held his ponytail in place, causing his hair to fall into a mess of cyan tentacles on his head. "...Okay. Guess we're going with plan B."

At his discretion, the Octoling pair ran towards the house. Brook and Marsha went around the side and sprayed the walls with their weapons before swimming up and onto the roof. This was then followed by the two jumping into an open window that led into the attic.

"Hm...nice and dark up here," Marsha commented. "This'll be easy."

"Let's hurry. I can't stand people who think they can control the lives of others. That girl needs our help," Brook stated before she opened the latch door that allowed the attic to open and gain access to the rest of the house.

As soon as the latch opened, the same explosive voice from before came booming through the home. "EY! WHO IN THE SHELLFISH IS IN MY HOUSE?!"

"Go!" Both the girls jumped down to land on the carpet of the hallway only to be greeted by the same absurdly tall figure who answered Trident at the door.

"What the-?!"

Meanwhile outside, Trident had fixed his hair into its ponytail once more only to hear a loud set of crashing noises followed by screaming. In a few moments the front door was opened by Brook, allowing Trident to come inside.

"Hmph. The big fool was nothing. I honestly don't know how your friend hasn't taken him down herself." As they walked inside, they would see the body of Tortuga's father bound with rope and lying facedown on the floor.

The dark purple girl herself was sitting on the couch in the living room. "He's my dad. I can't disrespect him. That's when bad things happen."

"Tory, what...what has your father been doing to you all this time? And why are you in such a gaudy outfit?"

She looked down at the dress she had on with an idle expression. "Meh. It's for this stupid Holiday Pageant my parents want me to enter. They've been prepping me for it since Halloween ended."

"Ouch. So that is why you have been so silent as of late."

"Yeah but it's whatevs. I'll live and suffer in silence. It's not worth beating up my dad over." Tortuga noticed the Octoling pair that had barged in along with Trident. "Who're they?"

"It's...quite the tale."

After a brief explanation of who Marsha and Brook were, as well as how they not only wanted to become functioning members of society as well. but also assist Tortuga due to her scenario.

"You're in a situation that was sorta like ours. But since he's your dad I guess it's a bit harder to just...leave from," Marsha gave her take on the situation.

Brook was a bit more cynical. "If you ask me, we should splatg him to kingdom come!"

Tortuga gave a shake of her head. "No. Don't. It's not worth it. And I've already got my own method of coping with this carp anyhow. Though, sadly that dream was dashed a long time ago so I'm...trying to figure out what I'm gonna do next."

"Well perhaps being Agent 5 isn't really meant for you in this timeline."

When they heard that, the Octogirls felt twice as upset. "Oh..."

"You mean you actually wanted to fight and help more like us be able to live freely again?" Marsha asked.

"Yeah but I didn't get in," Tortuga answered. "It's fine. There's more to life than being on the front lines. But I certainly don't wanna live here. Not with my joke of parental figures."

Upon hearing that, there was something else that invaded Trident's chain of thought. "Hang on. Where is your mother in all of this? Why isn't she here?"

"Oh. My ma works all day as some kinda dance therapist. She ain't around unless it's night when I'm asleep. And by then, they usually be arguin'."

"Ah...this will not do."

The Octogirls exchanged a look between each other for a moment before speaking out.

"Hey, we've been job hunting and well, I think we may have something for you."

"Ya'll do? What is it?" Tortuga responded with a raise of her eyebrow and an arm fold.

Concurrently, outside...

"They're in my sights. Moving in to interrogate."


	32. A New Chance

A few days later, the four inklings would meet up once more to walk down the streets of Inkopolis Square. A development had occurred after the pair of Octolings had suggested Tortuga take a job at a certain location. It turns out the specific place was none other than...

"Inkoplis New Studio? Ya mean the one where Pearl and Marina do the news from?"

Trident pushed up his glasses. "Well, obviously. Where else would we be going? That's where Brook said it'd be best for you to find work. It'd be a 'round the clock job that would almost require you to stay away from home."

Sandbar was a bit hesitant. "Hey ya'll, I ain't so sure. What if she gets nervous and don't do good?"

"Excuse me?!" Tortuga suddenly snapped in her friend's ear. "I am great under pressure, thank you! I'm just not good with...other kids."

Ravine scoffed, which made her spit a bit of ink, "Psssch. Isth that all? It'sth easthy! All you have to do isth justh walk up to sthomeone and say hi! Watch thisth..."

To demonstrate her point, she looked at a random inkling boy and ran up to him. She grabbed one of his hands with both of her own in a rapid handshake. "Hi! My name is Ravine! What'th yoursth?"

The green colored boy didn't realize what was happening until he realized his arm was being shook around like a wet noodle. "...Hi? My name is Rowan...i-is this a test? Am I being watched?!"

Ravine only responded with a wide grin, showing her teeth before she let go and turned to face her friends. "See? It'sth easthy!"

In the next moment, Sandbar had appeared next to the blue squid girl. "Sorry 'bout this, my dude," he apologized before promptly pulling Ravine away from the nervous kid. "Ya can't be touchin' on random folks like that."

"Oh pssh!" She gave a huff and tugged her arm away from his grip. "I almost made him my new friend!"

"Anyway," Trident spoke up, "This will be the perfect place where you can get away from your parents, keep busy, and even possibly land in high places, Tortuga."

She was dubious, evidenced by her folded arms. But Tortuga gave a small sigh of defeat since she knew there was no way she could get past her lovingly stubborn friends. "Alright, alright already. I'll go and check out the new job..."

Her three friends huddled up to her to give her a hug.

"Yeah, that's the spirit, man!" Sandbar shouted.

"Quite right. Now go and make yourself look exemplary," Trident cheered as they let her go.

Ravine gave a wide smirk. "Exactly. Knock 'em dead in there and make sure you asthk for the looongesth shift they got!"

"Yeah...I sure will." Tortuga went around to the side of the Inkopolis News Station.

Once she was gone, her three friends brought up idle chatter among themselves.

"So Trident," Ravine addressed her cyan friend. Her eyes betrayed a look of judgement, "wanna exthplain just how you befriended Marsha and Brook? I'm justh dying to know."

The boy could tell something was wrong by the way she asked the question. It caught him off-guard as he tried to find the best way to explain himself. "Well it was...quite interesting you see."

There was a twitch in Sandbar's body. As if something told him to violently flee the current situation. "If ya'll need me I'mma be doin' matches with randos." Without a second's hesitation, he had already morphed to his bright yellow squid form to perform a super jump. The boy flew off into the distance.

Meanwhile, inside of the News Station, Tortuga entered one of the rear doors to the facility. "Hello?"

All around the inside. Squid and octo kids were running left and right trying to manage everything they were doing. From one kid running around with a food cart, to another with makeup materials, and a another with a schedule clipboard.

"Wowzas. Ya think everyone's in a race to be the first one done so they could go home," Tortuga muttered lowly. She looked around and found a bulletin board with job listings on them. Almost all of them were filled except for one: "Bodyguard? For who?"

In a few moments, a short kid who wore a grey hoodie that concealed most of their body appeared next to Tortuga. "Yech. Looks likes they're putting up a listing for someone to watch their backs when they're doing interviews."

The purple girl looked to her right, then down at the kid in the hoodie. "Okay. But. Who?"

"Off the Hook is my best guess. You'd think they'd be able to handle themselves since they're super-strong girls and all."

"Well hey, you dunno what it's like to be the hottest thing since the Squid Sistas. Cut 'em some slack."

"Pfff." The hooded one, whose voice sounded particular feminine scoffed at her words. "Okay, sure. But I have a ton of friends who'd like it better if they just stopped with the overly cringey jokes. Like, when Marina won for the Villain side just recently, she made this horrible manga reference. 'This isn't even my final form.' Totes lame, dawg."

In response, Tortuga gave a light giggle. "Hehehe. I dunno about you but it sounds pretty funny to me. And maybe there's plenty of kids that read the particular manga where the reference came from. Quit actin' like everythin' needs to revolve around you."

"Whatevs. Their popularity is dwindling anyway. Once the splatfests are over, they'll be old news like Callie and Marie."

"Uh-huh." At this point, Tortuga was actively ignoring the hooded kid as she wrote her name down on the job application list for the bodyguard position. "Anymore carpy comments? I gots a job I wanna get." She left the complainer behind and made her way through the onslaught of other kids that were taking care of their own responsibilities inside of the News Station.

At last, she reached the door labeled 'Off the Hook' with a star surrounding the words. She proceeded to knock on the door once and awaited a response.

"Yo, come in," came a small voice from the other side of the door.

Tortuga stepped in to find the one and only Pearl of Off the Hook casually playing a video game on what looked like an NES console. "Hi. You must be Pearl. I signed up for the bodyguard position."

"I know-I mean-oh really?" She was wearing a casual jean jacket and black tank top with pink shorts. As well as yellow socks on her feet.

The purple girl leaned against the wall. "Yeh. I was kinda hoping I could get a spot that lasts the entire day, maybe?"

Pearl responded in a casual manner while playing her game. "Mm, I'll see what we can do. You got any combat experience?"

"Plenty."

"Knowledge of all the basic weapon types?"

"Yup."

"An eye for danger?"

"Two."

"C'mon, c'mon..." Pearl grunted while mashing buttons on her controller. "Begone, Dracula!"

Tortuga leaned over her shoulder. "Hm. Hey where's Marina?"

"Oh, she's busy right now," she answered while swapping out her game cartridge. "But if you think you can handle it, I'd appreciate someone watching our backs. Last time we went to a convention we got pranked by some dummy with rainbow ink."

"...Huh. How in Wet Floor's name did they manage that?"

"No idea. But absolutely no one's willing to apply for this job." Pearl groaned as she placed a new cartridge into her system and sat down in her chair. "I'll take what I can get. So just make sure you're ready for tonight."

"Wait, tonight?"

"Ya doy. Of course. We're headed out to perform a live concert at the Fishbowl Stadium-dangit if you don't make this jump I swear!"

Tortuga gave a nod along with a rare smile. "Alright. I'm in."

"Cool. You can start by escorting Marina back here. She's busy with getting her stuff ready and I'm kinda worried. So think you can head to her place without being followed."

"Tch, I was born with no one watching my back. I think I'll be fine."

Pearl stopped in the middle of her game to try and rationalize what she had just heard. "O...kay? Head out when you're ready."


	33. Preparations

"Stho...you're justh friendsth, huh? With the two Octoling girlsth who captured me onceth. You. Of all people. Mr. Anti-social Trident." Ravine said with narrowed, slitted eyes of judgement.

"I swear I merely ran into her at the hardware store and we went to her place. There's nothing else behind it."

"Mm-hmm..." She was still very much dubious. "In that caseth, I hope you don't mind I...have a chat with 'em."

"Go right ahead," Trident gave a meek response. Seeing Ravine upset was the last thing he wanted. "In fact, I encourage you to become friends with them as well."

"Yeah...friendsth." She folded her arms and looked off to the side.

The cyan kid was at a loss for words until their dark purple friend walked out of the News Station. "Ah! Tory, my dear. How did it go?"

She gave a shrug of her shoulders. "Meh. Coulda been worse. Pearl said I could be their personal bodyguard but I gotta go get Marina. They's got a concert in a day or two."

"Oh yes! The one at the Fishbowl Stadium?" Trident said with glee. "I planned on going to watch it but you get to go for free! How lucky is that?"

"'Spose. Hey, what's up with Ravs?" She looked at her lispy blue friend who had taken a seat at a nearby table with her squidphone by herself. "And where's Sandba?"

"Um...it's quite a long story? And Sandbar went to play some more Turf War with randoms."

Tortuga visibly cringed at the revelation. "Oh...hope he's alright. But I wonder why he didn't just ask us all to team with him. We'd roast fools on da Turf."

Trident frowned while rubbing his head. "Well...it seems to me as if he simply wanted to avoid asking us. We haven't played Turf in quite a while together."

"Yuh. But we all been busy with our own stuff 'n junk, so it's been kinda hard gettin' back together."

"Which reminds me," Trident made an attempt to change the subject, "Squidmas is tomorrow. Do you plan on...?"

She held her hand up. "Before ya ask, yes. I do plan on comin' to ya party tomorrow. Wouldn't miss it for the world n' junk. I'mma invite somema my old friends too."

The cyan boy clutched his chest. "Oh dear...mother desperately wants me to make new friends so she's making me hold a party. I'd honestly rather not due to the rather unpleasant state I am in when around many other kids."

Moments later, Ravine walked over to the two. "Yo, Tory! Congratsth on the new job! And I justh invited Nulka and Barbette. They'll be at Trident'sth housthe tomorrow too."

This was followed by Sandbar finally making his return as well with some extra cash in his wallet. Having overheard words about the party at Trident's house, he was already prepped to make an entrance. "Oh yea! I'mma invite Esker. He and his folks are cool with me now so I figure why not?"

"Are you positive?" Trident questioned his friend.

"Relax, fam. They ain't gonna do no harm to nobody."

"Alright, well I have to get the rest of the preparations finished." Trident said as he began to walk off. "I'll see you all tomorrow night."

His friends waved as he left. Sandbar found it the perfect time to address the elephant in their faces. "Hey, Ravs. What's goin' on? You seem like you was upset at Tri or somethin'."

Tortuga agreed. "I wasn't gonna say nothin'. But dat face you were makin' a second ago made ya look upset. What's goin' on, girl?"

"Well...guessth I better exsthplain..."

* * *

Meanwhile...

"You are going to this party tomorrow, and that's final!" A yellow inkling woman shouted at her child from within a boat that sat at the pier of Sturgeon Shipyard. _"By sending my kid there, I'll exact revenge on those stupid vigilantes who thwarted my Halloween plans. We'll see who has the last laugh."_

A short Inkling with a pale green ink color didn't want to argue. Instead the kid silently accepted their mother's wishes. "Okay...I'll go. Just please don't yell at me again, mom..."


	34. Squid Party! (And Octo)

"Mother...why is there so much food?"

Trident was referring to the party tables in the living room that were completely filled with an assortment of homemade party dishes. Ham, mac and cheese, lobsters, fried shrimp, and loads more. All easily accessible for the kids who would be attending the party.

"Oh come on, honey. You know how excited kids can be when they're at someone else's house. So I figured I would go above and beyond for everyone!" was his mother's chirpy response.

He didn't seem to enjoy this, however. Trident covered his face with his hands out of embarrassment. "Mother...there is no need to go this far."

The adult squid had her back turned to him while she placed another tray of food on a table. "You quit that, dear. We need to make a good impression and having a lot of fresh food is what's best." She turned to face him and leaned down to be at equal height to her son to give a somber statement. "I know you're a bit nervous, but I want you to step outside of your comfort zone and try to make some new friends. Sandbar, Tortuga, and Ravine can be busy sometimes and you tend to shut yourself down, so..."

With his own foresight, he could tell just what his mother was feeling. Trident did not want to disappoint her, so he put on a smile. "I understand. I'll do my best and try to...socialize this evening."

Her mood was uplifted as evidenced by the grin she exchanged with him. "Oh good. I know you'll be a great host for this Squidmas party," she said with a gentle pat to his head.

As his mother entered the kitchen, Trident couldn't help but stare hopelessly at the wide variety of food on offer. "Oh drab it all...the last thing I want is more 'fans' of my mother. I am going to have to keep things as organized and orderly as possible."

Once the sun began to set on Inkopolis, about two dozen kids in total had flocked to the home of Trident. They all waited outside until it was time to be let in.

With one peep through the curtains, the cyan kid squid felt his ink pounding in his chest. He shivered. His rate of breath drew twice as fast. "Okay...okay...it is only a mere 20 or so. No big deal..." From his pocket, he felt his phone buzz. "Wha-?!" It made him recoil with shock and fall to the floor until he realized what it was. "Oh...a notification. May as well see what it is."

He took out his squidphone and tapped it. Upon opening the notification, he saw someone had mentioned him on Squitter.

 _we gon tear yo place up Poseidon_Neptune296 don't be messin' with my candy plans next time_

"What?! What is the meaning of this?!" Trident panicked as beads of sweat dripped from his face.

At that moment, from the back door to his household came his best friend Sandbar. "Yo! My man where are ya?" It took him a moment, but he eventually found Trident huddled in a corner. "What in da halibut's wrong with ya?"

"Thank goodness you're here!" Trident quickly clung to his friend, and shoved his squidphone in his face.. "Someone just made a post on Squitter about how they're going to wreck the place! What can I do?"

He took one good look at the post on Trident's phone, and sighed. "Now, hey hey hey. Calm yaself." Sandbar pushed him off. "You can either cancel and bum a lotta kids out or we can have the party and catch the guy. It is up to you though, bud." He took a look outside at all of the excited cephalopod children who had been invited. "I can say one thing for certain, it's gon be much easier catchin' whoever it is if we just continue as normal. Besides, I got a feelin' we've dealt with this 'guy' before."

"We have?" Now a bit more relaxed, Trident took another look at the social media post. It then clicked in his mind. "Halloween...can-oh. It's her again. She just can't leave us alone can she? What's she gonna do, pose as a kid and come to my house? She's two feet taller than most of us."

Sandbar nodded in agreement. "Exactly. But we ain't gonna let that ruin our Squidmas party, eh? Why don'cha open the door, and I'll keep watch for anyone weird."

"Alright...I can count on you." With a deep exhale, Trident went to the front door to open it. "Welcome, everyone! Merry Squidmas!"

* * *

The party had officially started. Everyone making their way inside and instantly began to dance, eat, chat, or a combination of the three. Generally enjoying themselves as normal partygoers would.

There was one pair of guests that caught the attention of a certain lispy squid near the punch table.

"Hey." Ravine had located the two Octolings that Trident managed to be friend. "Remember me?"

"Oh yeah!" Marsha gave a smile. "You're Trident's close friend, right?"

"Girlfriend, thanksth. Justh making sthure what he sthaid wasth true."

Brook took a sip from her cup. "Oh yeah? What's that?"

Ravine glared at them with her arms folded. "That you're all justh friendsth right? There'sth nothing going on between you like, say, maybe...I dunno...emotional manipulation?!"

A brief pause occured between both sides until the Octoling girls started to giggle.

"What? What'sth so funny?!"

After their moment of laughter, Marsha spoke. "Hahaha! We're not into him like that. He's...far from our type."

"Yeah," Brooke agreed, "we're more into the overactive guys. Hyper, spunky, stuff like that. No offense."

"Hmph...good. Normally I'd be offended but he doesn't do well with girlsth."

Marsha held back a snicker. "Tell me about it. I feel bad for him, to be honest. He is a little cute, and you go well together."

Meanwhile, Brook had gathered up a massive plate of food from one of the tables nearby. "If you want, we'll just stay away from him. If it'll make you happy cuz the last thing we wanna do is upset a friend."

"Really? Wait, I never sthaid you guysth had to stay away..."

Marsha shrugged her shoulders. "If you feel that strongly, we get it. C'mon, Brook, let's go dance."

"Oh yeah! I'm ready to get my booty-shake on!"

As they left, Ravine began to think to herself. "...Am I being a bit...controlling?"

Meanwhile, on the other end of the room, a pair of squid girls-one in a pink hoodie and the other with a green one-idly sipped from their cups.

"Cal...are you sure this was a good idea? I mean, what if someone recognizes us," said the one in the pink hoodie.

"Chill out, Mary, no one will know! When's the last time we actually went to a real party?" questioned the girl in the green hoodie.

'Mary' looked up at the ceiling as she thought about it. "June 20th, 6 years ago. Before we were even famous. I see your point but it doesn't mean I have to enjoy it."

'Cal' had gathered her own plate of food and was taunting her friend with it. "C'mooon, Mary. You knnow these fried mussels look delicious!"

Despite this, she ignored her friend in the green hoodie. Instead, 'Mary's' focus was on a lone child in a corner of the party room who wasn't really engaging with anyone. "Hang on, I'll be right back."

"Awww. Where ya goin'?"

"Hopefully to make a legitimate friend for the first time in over a decade."

The kid who was in the corner was having chat with someone on the phone. "Yeah mom, okay...I get you. Yes, as soon as it's time I'll release the permanent ink. Wait...someone's coming over to me. Gotta go, bye."

"Hey there." The girl in the pink hoodie greeted the shy kid, "I'm Mary. What's your name."

"...Resin. Nice to meet you."


	35. Party Pooped

"So you're not from here? Me neither. I'm from Calamari County."

"Huh...? Me too. Hehe...small world, yeah...Mary?"

'Mary' giggled in response. "Yes, it is. I'm glad someone decided to hold a party too. It makes me feel comfortable knowing I'm with regular squids for once."

"Regular? What do you mean by that?"

She took a second to think. "Mm...squids who don't have to pretend to be someone or something greater than who they really are just for attention, you know? Just a regular person you can talk to without worrying about everything."

"Wow...I guess so."

"Yeah...heh." She noticed this kid didn't speak very much, and she didn't wish to make the situation any more awkward than it already was. "So...if you wanna talk some more I'll be over by the food table, alright?"

The kid nodded. "Oh...sure. See you later." As the girl in the pink hoodie left them alone, the kid would feel their phone buzz in their pocket. "...Oh." It was due to a text message they received.

Get it done. Now.

"Ugh..." There was a cloud of dread that loomed above the kid. They knew there was no other option at this point. One of their hands slipped into a pocket.

On the other side of the room Trident had attempted to calm himself by guzzling down some punch in the corner of the room. His eyes scanned over everything and everyone partying along as his fear consumed him. "I know you're out there somewhere but where..."

"Hey man-"

"GAH!" The cyan boy nearly jumped out of the window beside him when he heard someone speak in his direction. Turns out it was only his bright yellow friend. "Confound it, Sandbar! Don't do that! I am already on edge enough as it is, and I don't need extra anxiety to compound my already boiling pot of emotions."

Sandbar threw his head back and scoffed. "Tch, my dude. You are bein' way too darn paranoid. You need to relax yoself and just hang for once. Ain't nobody gonna do nothin'."

"Are you sure about that? How do we know that someone hasn't snuck in here to attempt something dastardly?!"

He placed a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Ey. Remember what I told ya. You handle bein' the host of this here shindig while I watch out for anythin'. Ain't that what I told ya?"

Trident sighed. "Yes yes of course but-"

"Uh-uh ain't no butts about it, man. You are gonna go around and chill with everyone while I take care of everythin' else. Ol' Sandy's got this."

"Are you positive?"

"As a magnet, yo," Sandbar replied with a grin.

He knew there was no point in debating. Trident gave a slow nod before walking off. "Alright then...I trust you."

Meanwhile, near the food table, 'Mary' went to get some more punch, but noticed something about it that made her pause. "...Was it always black? Could've sworn it was blue..." She leaned over to take a closer look, and noticed there was a layer of fizz on the top. "Strange. Guess they copped a new flavor."

When she reached for the ladle to get some out, it began to fizz even more. As if it was a carbonated drink that had been violently shaken. "What the-? Hey did anyone notice this...?" She looked around the room, and noticed everyone's transparent plastic cups had been filled with the blue drink. To her right, she also watched as the quiet kid she had previously talked to had walked off to the bathroom.

She then turned around and watched in horror as the black colored 'punch' began to foam up like a baking soda experiment. "Eugh...what is this?" She started to back away towards her friend in the green hoodie. "Cal, look at the punch bowl over there."

Her friend stopped in the middle of scarfing down some shrimp and took a look at what she was referring too. "Uh oh...you think someone put something in it as a joke?" She asked, muffled, with a shrimp tail hanging from her mouth.

"It's...not a very good one if that's the case."

By now the bowl was foaming over. Bubbles began forming and popping within the blink of an eye. It piled onto the table and started to cover everything around it in a bubbling mess.

"I'm...going to tell the host." 'Mary' got up from her seat and hurried to find who was in charge of the party.

After being directed to the correct kid, she approached him. "Trident, right? I think you should take a look at the punch bowl..."

"Hm? What's wrong?" He looked up and his eyes instantly locked onto the fuming punch bowl. Bubbles had laced the floor and caught the attention of quite a few partygoers. "Oh no...no!" He ran over to the table to figure out the problem, but as soon as he got there, he heard a rumbling noise. "...Everyone get down!" he shouted before he dove under the table.

The warning was too late. A Fizzy Bomb submerged in the bowl had went off, exploding a total of three times!

 _CRASH! BOOM! SPLAT!_

Everyone panicked as it went off and tried to avoid it to no avail. The black ink inside of it went everywhere and coated everyone in its sticky contents. However, unlike normal ink, this one did not fade from anyone's skin or clothing in a few seconds. This resulted in everyone in the room being covered in black ink they couldn't remove.

And the reactions were fierce.

"What the-why isn't it coming of?!" An Inkling boy cried.

"It's stuck! It's not coming out of my clothes!" An Inkling girl shouted.

"Whoever did this must have a death wish." An Octoling boy stated.

"My hair! My everything! I swear on my life they'll pay!" An Octoling girl yelled.

The venting of frustration continued among the crowd, until they fell silent and stared at Trident.

He stood in front of everyone, a trembling mess. His knees and arms were rattling about as if he was on ice. "Um...I-I...I have no idea what happened I..."

"Then why are you the only one clean?!"

He slowly realized the fact that he remained untouched by the strange substance. "I-I hid under the food table!"

The crowd of kids all leered at him, and got closer.

"Or, maybe you knew when it was gonna go off and hid before anything happened!" Another guest shouted.

"Wait, I...I don't..." Trident stuttered as he tried to find an answer before Sandbar appeared in front of him, also covered in the disgusting black substance.

"Hey ya'll back off! He would never do somethin' like this! He ain't that kinda guy!"

Despite his protest, one of the kids pushed Sandbar out of the way. "Get outta here! We're dealing with the guy who decided to have a party and ruin everyone's Fresh gear!"

"I swear I didn't do this!"

"Oof!" Sandbar landed a few feet away from the altercation. Heavily outnumbered, he knew there was little he could do to assist his friend.

Everyone got closer to the cyan boy, an stood over him with eyes of judgement, anger, and rage.

Trident was backed against the wall, nearly turning into a quivering pile of ink as everyone's eyes stared into his soul. Sandbar did nothing but helplessly watch. "Just let me explain!"


	36. Esteemed Visitor

"Look, I'm sorry man. I-I said I had yer back and I didn't..."

"Sandbar, it's fine."

"No it ain't!" He persisted. "I shoulda been more careful, dude. I'm sorry."

Trident lied in bed with an ice pack on his head. It was the morning after the disastorous party had taken place in which permanent ink had been unleashed. The crowd of kids that attended the party lashed out and nearly caused grevious harm to Trident until his mother had forced everyone to exit their home.

"Enough. I accept your apology now leave me be."

Moments later, his mother entered the room with a pair of paper bags. "Oh my baby! Are you alright?! I was so tired from last night that I went to lie down and-"

Her son cut her off. "Mother, it's alright. What is in these bags, though...?"

"I went out and got you boys your favorite breakfast to cheer you up. Sandbar, take care of him please," she added while handing each boy one of the warm bags.

"Where ya goin', Mrs. T?" Sandbar asked with confusion as he took the offer.

The squid woman had already turned around to head to the door. Her face hid the uneasiness on her mouth and the twitching of her eyelids. "...To simply question a few parents. I'll be back later, boys!"

With that, she left, and the boys took a peek inside the bags they were given.

"Woah, silver dollar crab pancakes?! These cost hundreds of cash each!"

Sandbar was already eating out of the to-go container. A syrupy mess glossed his face. "You say somethin'?"

"Uch, honestly were you raised in a barn with those manners?" Trident scolded hisfriend as he neatly ate.

"Is that a trick question or somethin'? You ain't makin' sense partner."

Trident rolled his eyes. "Nevermind. I-" Just then, his squidphone began to buzz under his sheets. "Hold on-hello?" he picked it up and answered.

 _"Trident! You okay?! I'm sthorry I couldn't help, there wasth justh too many!"_

Ravine shouted frantically on the other end, causing the cyan boy to sigh. "Listen don't worry yourself. I just need...rest."

 _"You want me to come over? I got a new pair of sandals! Wanna see 'em?!"_

"No." He responded bluntly before whispering into the phone, "...maybe later."

 _"Heehee! I knew it! See ya soon, okay?"_

"Yeah...thanks for the call." He hung up and noticed Sandbar with a stocky grin on his face. "What? Is there a problem?"

"Sandals? Really?"

"She likes to show off her new gear and I humor her."

The yellow boy snickered. "Yeh. I getcha." He didn't buy it.

Once they finished their special breakfast, Trident did his best to relax while his friend sat in a chair nearby. "Are you sure you wish to just sit here with me? I am feeling a bit better."

"No dice, fam. If you need somethin'. I'mma be here to get it for ya."

There was a knock at the door.

"Speakin' of which. Lemme hit that for ya," Sandbar got up and left the room to see who it was. Outside, he saw a squid girl with a pink hoodie, dark shades, and a sunhat.

"Uh, yo?" He answered as he opened the door.

"Yeah, um, hi. I was here last night. Wasn't sure who the host was so I figured I would come back." She took off her shades, revealing a pair of easily recognizable gold eyes. "Mind if I come in?"

"Oh...sure, no prob," Sandbar stood aside. "The 'host' is currently restin' but you can try if you want."

"Thank you." She heeded his direction and went to the room. "Hey there. Are you the kid that held the party last night? I'm Mary."

"Yes. I am," Trident replied with a groan. "I saw you here last night. I apologize for what happened and I'll replace your clothes if need be."

Mary shook her head. "No, don't worry. In fact, I wanted to come tell you about what happened last night?"

Sandbar arrived in the room with his arms folded. He shot a judgemental glare at the girl. "Wait, you sure?"

"Yeah. Take a look." On her phone, she showed the two an image of a kid with most of their face covered. "Dunno who this was. Don't even know if it's a boy or girl. But they seemed shy and isolated one moment, and the next, I saw this kid head to the bathroom right before the Permanent Ink bomb went off."

Sandbar's jaw dropped. "...I...I remember. I told that kid where the toilet was."

"Do not start with another apologetic fit," Trident stopped his friend before he lost it. "It isn't your fault this happened." His attention went back to Mary. "Do you know what else happened? Did they leave anything behind?"

Once more, she shook her head. "Sorry. That's all there was. But I will be on the lookout, kid. Don't you worry."

"Thanks for the tip, missy," Sandbar said, "Now we know who we're lookin' for."

"Yes, now if only I could get some peace and quiet..." Trident rubbed the ice pack on his head. A subtle plea for both of them to leave.

Sandbar caught the hint. "I'll walk ya out, miss."

"I hope you feel better soon, kid."

"Thank you..."

Both Sandbar and Mary left the room and he saw her to the door. "Thanks again for the hint. We gonna catch whoever it was and bring 'em down."

She put her hands in the pockets of her hoodie. "I hope so. No one deserves to be treated like this." She then turned to walk down the porch. "See you later." Just then, her squidphone began to buzz in her pocket. So she grabbed it and answered. "Talk to me."

...

"What?" She stopped dead in her tracks. Barely halfway off the porch. "Sheldon, you serious?Okay...hang on, I'll be over in five minutes!"

Right before Sandbar closed the door, Mary stormed up to grab his attention. "Hey wait!"

"Wha?" The bright yellow boy turned around. "Wassup?"

"That kid. The one I took a picture of. They were just at Ammo Knights, and they bought every weapon."

When he heard this, Sandbar's hat nearly flew off his head. "Hold up." He pushed both arms out. "Every dang weapon? I visit Sheldon regularly. His stuff ain't cheap. That be suspicious as heck."

"I know. Why would that kid want to ruin someone's party and then take an entire stock of weapons? I doubt he'll even use them all. No one's that crazy," Mary snarked.

"We need to git the heck over there!"

"But what about Trident?"

Sandbar had already closed the door behind him. "He's been wantin' me to leave since 10PM last night and I've just been a stubborn fool. Lessgo find this guy!" Without hesitation, he ran on ahead towards Inkopolis Square.

Mary slowly followed after with a walk. "Yeah, you can come along too. Nice to meet you...man he's worse than my sister."


	37. Rallying

Marie and Sandbar arrived at the Ammo Knights store moments after the call. The owner, Sheldon, was ecstatic over the massive sale he had just made.

"Haha! This is wonderful! I have just made the most amount of cash in a single day! Let's see those uppity weapons salesman laugh at me now!"

"Say wha?" Sandbar interrupted the small horseshoe crab's ramblings. "Whatcha on about Shelly?"

He was startled, his helmet rattling atop his head as he turned to face the pair that entered his store. "Ah! Oh it's you. One of my regulars, and Marie! Nice to see you!"

She gave a small sigh and removed her sunhat, now dropping the 'Mary' persona. "Darn it, Shelldon. You're lucky no one else is coming in here." She then looked at Sandbar with a hint of confusion. "You aren't surprised?"

"Pfff! I knew who ya was soon as I heard ya speakin' earlier. I'mma fan of yours Marie. I even chose yo side in the last fest ya did."

"Oh wow...great..." she wanted to shy away from the subject, "anyway, I got your call, Shelldon. So you're saying everything in your shop was-"

"Purchased! By one mysterious buyer. No name given, just dropped off this massive bag of cash here, and requested everything!"

Marie's eyes narrowed to slits. There was something fairly dubious about this in her mind. "Mind if I see this cash they left?"

"Uh, sure I guess?" Shelldon pointed to the bag on his counter. "Don't do anything weird."

"I just wanna look..." Marie peeked into the sack of 'cash' and sighed. "I knew it. They played you, Shelldon." She grabbed the bag and tossed it on the floor. "These are chocolate coins. Not real at all."

Sandbar knelt down and picked one up. "Blech. And it's dark. They got me messed up, yo. I'mma 'bout to tear 'em a new one."

Upon hearing that he was conned, Shelldon froze. Still as a statue with a dead expression on his face.

"Uh...you alright m-"

"Shhh." Marie stood in front of Sandbar before he could approach the weapon salesman. "He gets like this when he's really upset. I...suggest we leave." She grabbed the bag of chocolates and put her sunhat back on.

The two exited, leaving Shelldon in his frozen stupor.

Marie was walking down the sidewalk and barely noticed the bright yellow squid with the cowboy accent until he made himself known.

"Chocolates? Well that's all well an' good I guess, but now what?"

"...You're still along for the ride? I thought you'd have bounced by now."

"Now hang on, missy. Don't sell me short or nothin'. I'mma find out what's goin' on mahself if I have to."

Marie looked at him and then out at the city. "Well, our best bet would be to find where this candies came from, question who they sold these to, and go from there."

"There's a candy shop down the road, now. Maybe that's where these came from!"

There was a mild look of interest on her lips. "Hm. If you're so sure, then I guess you should lead the way."

"Alrighty, follow me. I gots a shortcut." The journey to the candy shop began with the yellow boy hopping over a nearby fence that led through an alley.

"Oh boy..."

After a trek through Inkopolis, the pair found themselves at the candy store. That's where Sandbar's level of eagerness ended, however. Entirely due to the sight of the store itself.

"Gross...Valentine's prep, ya'll."

Indeed, the candy shop was prepared for next month's majpor holiday with heart boxes of chocolate displayed in the window, pink and red balloons floating above the signs, and an influx of pink cards that seemed to fill the store.

Marie had a cheeky grin on her face. "Heh. Yeah, it's why I decided to accept the Team Money leadership for the Splatfest we did a few years ago."

"Oh yuh! I remember that. I couldn't participate yet, but I was too young to decide anyway."

"Don't get me wrong, love is an important thing and it should be expressed all the time. But this? It just feels like an exploitative greeting card holiday used to shame boys into giving things while glorifying girls for doing absolutely nothing. Unless you're in school where it's more or less mandatory for everyone to give everyone a Valentine."

She stopped and watched as a nearby Inkling recounting how much cash they had for a gift...four times.

"...But let's face it, a lot of us aren't. So you end up with a lot of frantic boys who bust their ink sacs trying to find a Valentine gift while girls just sit back and gossip to each other about who's getting the better gift. If you ask me, this holiday is overrated at best, and manipulative at worst."

Sandbar had been listening to her entire speech. It came as a shock to hear a girl say such things about Valentine's Day, as evidenced by his thousand-yard stare. "...Huh."

"What?"

"I ain't never heard nothin' like that from a chick. I thought all ya'll just enjoyed bein' catered to like queens."

Marie took a pause before laughing. "Pfff! Please! I've been through enough of that sort of treatment. I'm just looking to chill nowadays. So long as my cousin stays out of trouble."

"Righty, righty. That's all well and good, but now we need to head inside."

And in the amount of time they spent chatting, the line into the candy store had tripled! Now leading out of the door where impatient squid and octopus boys were hoping to get their hands on gifts early.

Sandbar threw his arms to the sky in frustration, while Marie laughed. "Son of a mother hubbard!"


	38. Scary Surprise

Marie and Sandbar stood in line, bored at how long it was taking to get into the store. All for some simple information as well.

"Oof. This be takin' longer than a hog-tied jellyfish tryin' bebop through some snow."

All Marie could do in response was chuckle since she had no idea what the yellow boy just said. "Pfffhehe...what...?"

"This line, man! All we need is some information, yo."

The gray colored girl gave an idle stretch. "I've waited in longer lines before. Besides, there's no harm in letting them buy what they want."

In total, it took about an hour for the line at the candy store to finally disperse so they could reach the front desk. Once they got there, they would arrive to find an exhausted jellyfish limp.

"Please for the love of the great ancient zapfish do not ask for another mixed candy bag. Those take too long to make and I'm losing my mind here around all of this pink, gah!"

Sandbar bit his lip to keep himself from laughing, and stepped forward. "Nah fam. We ain't here for that. In fact we's got a question for ya."

"Do you remember who purchased these yesterday?" Marie placed the sack of chocolate coins on the counter.

"Oh those?" The jellyfish pondered for a moment. "Some weird kid in a dark hoodie that kept their face hidden. Besides that, I can't tell you anything else due to buyer-seller confidentiality and the fact that it'd be too easy for me to just-"

Sandbar sighed. "Dangit and we was so close. Now we back at square one, ya'll."

He and Marie left the confines of the crowded store and headed out to the square.

"Hm. Guess I'll have to do some investigating myself," Marie mused. "Someone essentially finessed Sheldon out of his weapon stock and acts like they want to remain anonymous. That can't be good."

"Darn tootin'!" Sandbar agreed. "We gots ourselves a heck of a kerfuffle."

"No. Sorry, but this isn't your fight, kid." Marie denied said to put him aside. "This person now poses a city-wide threat and tricked one of my close friends. You need to stick with yours."

Despite her words, the yellow boy stepped right over them with his own. "Ya serious? Heck naw, whoever this fool is messed with my friend Trident. I'mma do this my way, thank ya very much."

"Hey if that's what you wanna do, I won't stop you. But right now, I need to get back to Sheldon and make sure he's not crying with his face in a giant tub of ice cream again."

"Wha...?"

"Don't ask. See ya, kid. Oh and one more thing. Resin." Marie mentioned casually as she began to talk away.

"Ya'll say what now?"

"Resin. That's the kid's name," she repeated before she rounded the corner of the block, going out of sight.

"Hrm..."

Later on, by the time Sandbar returned to Trident's house, he found Trident's mother in the kitchen washing dishes after the cataconic party.

"Sandy? Tortuga and Ravine are here. They're upstairs seeing how my boy is."

The yellow boy stopped in his tracks. "Mrs. T. You alright?"

"Ohhoho...I'm just fine," the mother responded, her voice laced with irritation. She stopped her cleaning and turned around, facing the boy and squatted to be at his eye level. "Sandy...I've known you for a long time. You and Trident have had a very close friendship since the day you two met. And since your parents weren't really around to take care of you...I've tried to fill the role for you the best I could."

"Yeh...I know, ma'am. And I'm grateful 'n all but-"

"Just...do me a favor and find whoever did this to my baby. Embarrassing him like that...I oughta find them myself." She stood up and went back to washing the dishes as normal. "Have a good day, dear!"

In response, Sandbar slowly stepped out of the room and hurried upstairs. "Dang...she trippy when she's upset."

Once he arrived at his friend's room, he would be greeted to the studious cyan inkling typing away at his computer with Ravine lying on her front, looking up at the TV and Tortuga reading from a book.

"Finally, he's arrived," Trident turned around in his swivel chair. "I feel a lot better after that...mosh pit I was in last night."

"We've been waitin' for ya, Sandman. Git over here. Ravine's got somethin' to say."

The deep blue squid girl rose to her feet. "Yesth, yesth! You sthee, my bossth wasth justh getting me ready for the nexth Sthplatfesth and the OK Coral Cafe isth gonna have a big pancake and waffle contesth!"

"An eatin' contest?" Sandbar held his hands over his stomach in discomfort. "Naw, naw, naw ya'll. Last time I did one'a them, I ended up barfin' out mah ink!"

"Relax, my stressful friend," Trident spoke up to relax him. "There will be no eating involved. Ironically. Instead, it's a race. The website is advertising it right now, come look."

Sandbar went over to the computer. "Race?"

"Mixed vehicle," Tortuga said, "bikes, roller blades/skates, skateboards, scooters. Basically anything with wheels that's powered by your own energy."

Ravine nodded with confirmation at the purple girl's statement. "Uh-huh! The winner getsth a yearsth supply of pancakesth or wafflesth depending on what side they're on!"

"Huh, sounds good, ya'll. You all gonna enter?" Sandbar grabbed the mouse and scrolled through the list of contestants who had already signed up to enter. But there was one name in particular that caught his attention.

 _Watercress_

 _Volley_

 _ **Resin**_

"...Ya'll, we got a problem."


	39. Race Time!

"Alright so what's the plan ya'll?" Sandbar asked his friends. "The fool that messed with our boy is gonna be in that there race. Could be the perf time to stop him."

Tortuga agreed. "Yeah, yeah. He's got a point. Maybe we can bust that nutcase wide open and finally find out what he's doin' this stuff for."

"Ohoho...trust me! If anyone daresth to messth with my boy again I'll set up a Rube Goldberg Sthplatting machthine and keep 'em held under it!" Ravine shouted while looking out the window.

Trident had to fix his glasses as he was surprised by the suddent outburst. "...dear me, she sounds like mother."

"Yeah that kinda stuff is scary ain't it?" Sandbar nudged his friend. "So how's about we enter that race then, ya'll? I got mahself I pair of rollin' blades I ain't had a use for."

"Hmph. I got a skateboard," Tortuga spoke up, "I used to spend my time at the Blackbelly Skatepark whenever my dad got pushy. Guess I can see how the practicin' paid off."

Just then, Ravine brought up her own. "OOh ooh! I have thisth cute kick scooter I haven't usthed in forever!"

Trident tapped a nearby pencil against his lips. "I do have a bike I ride every so often. Not for racing but I may as well participate as well to see if this fool will strike yet again." He resumed tapping on his keyboard. "We just need to have proper padding and helmets to be able to enter."

"Peh, leave it to me, guys." Tortuga said as she got off of Trident's bed. "Once we catch this guy, I'll show him what happens when you mess with us."

"Just make sure you practice, everyone. It sounds as if we haven't used our child-based transportation toys in a long time."

Ravine wrapped her arms around his head. "Don't you worry 'bout a thing. We'll be fine, Tri. But the guy that messthed with you...he won't."

There was a fire in her eyes. Like a lit beakon that bore into the very essence of Trident's being as they exchanged a gaze between each other.

"Anyway, bye!" She let him go, and headed for the door with Tortuga behind her.

"I swear she is trying too much..." Trident shook his head. "Anyway, we best get our gear ready to participate. And I don't mean our clothes."

Sandbar repsonded with a snicker. "Hehehe. Ain't no issue my man. We'll all meet up before the race starts and see if we can find out what's really goin' on."

"Hm? How do you figure?"

"C'mon, man. This all sounds mighty strange comin' from someone rando. It's gotta be someone we've dealt with before," the yellow boy explained.

Trident paused in order to think about it. "I see...but who?"

"We ain't gon' know 'til the cows start cryin'."

There was a silence in the room before Trident began to keel over laughing. "Ahahah! What does that even mean?"

"It was listed as one of them cool phrases of the old human West, I dunno!"

"Ah...never change, old friend."

When the day of the competition arrived, Trident was the first to make it to the venue for which the vehicle race would start. He rolled his bicycle alongside himself as he waited for the officals to tell everyone to line up.

"Hm..." he grabbed a map that detailed the route in which the kids would travel on what they used. "So it starts here, in the middle of Inkopolis, then out to the road through Camp Triggerfish, around Mahi-Mahi Resort's pool and a jump over Snapper Canal? Ay ay ay just how big is this event?"

"Pretty huge, I'd say," Tortuga walked up next to him with her skateboard under her arm. "Guess we underestimated just how huge this thing is. But I ain't in it for the free pancakes/waffles. I wanna catch that goon."

"Well today will be our chance. And it seems quite a few other kids have decided to heed the call to compete."

As he said, there were quite a few squid and octopus kids who were slowly arriving with their own bikes, skateboards, roller skates, and other forms of wheeled excitement as well. About two dozen in fact.

"Jeebus, you right. Those otha two betta hurry up," Tortuga checked her smartphone for the time once she had a glimpse of the crowd that was participating.

After a brief moment, Trident brought up a more sensitive topic. "So, Tory. About your parents..."

The dark purple squid groaned. "Look, I appreciate ya tryin' to help me out. But you ain't gotta do all that. I can handle 'em just fine myself."

"It's not that, I mean...the dress."

"Ugh! Don't even start! They just want me to do some stupid modelling and I hate it! Havin' my photo out for the public to see wearin' gross cutesy clothes that ain't even fresh? I don't need none'a that!"

Trident didn't know how to respond, other than by giving a slow nod. "I see...and your parents want you to just make them money the easiest way possible." He looked down at the ground. "Absolute scum..."

"Right? I just wanna get the heck outta there!"

"So, why not come and live with Sandbar and I?" He offered.

She immediately rebuked this. "Thanks, but nah. You two already make a home wild enough. Besides, your mama don't need no more trouble. She already miffed about this random kid that's causin' ya trouble."

"Fair enough. But hey, if you ever need anything, I'm always here to offer you help," he said with a wide open smile.

Tortuga couldn't help but giggle. "Gaaahh quit lookin' at me like that ya nut before I make ya," she put him in a headlock and started to noogie the top of his head.

"Ow, hey stop that you juvenile!"

They were interrupted by a loud intercom that roared over the streets. _"HEY EVERYBODY! TIME FOR THE FIRST ANNUAL RADICAL RACE! SPONSORED BY OK CORAL CAFE! GET YOUR TOTALLY COOL GEAR UP TO THE STARTING LINES SO WE CAN LIKE, BEGIN YO!"_

It turned out to be a jellyfish that used a set of three voice changing megaphones and used its stretchy legs to rise high into the air to make the announcement.

"Now that was probably the third strangest thing I've seen in my 14 years of existence," Trident commented whilst making his way to the starting line with his bike at his side. "Come now, let's go."

First she put a piece of gum in her mouth. "Way ahead of ya." Tortuga then rolled up next to him on her board and stopped before the line.

"Now where are those..." Trident had his eyes out for his other two friends before he heard a loud familiar voice.

"Howdy!" Sandbar shouted from the other end of the starting line with about five other kids between them. His special roller blades on his feet with flame decals showed he was somewhat serious about this race.

On the other side he managed to spot Ravine on her gold colored kick scooter. She silently waved at him from her position, to which he responds with a wave of his own.

His expression of happiness slowly contorted to one of contempt. As he spotted a suspiciously familiar kid wearing a gray hoodie. It matched the same one who left the room before the Fizzy Bomb went off at his party.

"Hm..." He avoided making direct eye contact with the character. Instead choosing to focus on the road ahead and loosening one of the buttons on his shirt.

"READY...SET...GO!"

The race began. All of the kids using their various sets of wheels to head towards the edge of the city...


	40. Suspicious

The race had begun. Everyone was riding their own sets of wheels through the middle of Inkopolis Square. Those who were on bicycles like Trident had a slight advantage due t the smooth pavement they were riding on. But naturally, this was anyone's battle. Crowds on both sides of the blocked off road cheered for the kids as they all vyed for ultimate freshness among each other.

"YEE-HAW!" Sandbar in particular used nearby handrails to get ahead. Every time a new one showed up, he would jump upon it and use his rollerblades to grind the rail to get ahead of someone else.

Tortuga took a different approach to the race. Her eyes scanned over each competitor like a hawk in an attempt to gauge any foul play that might emerge over the course of the race. Just ahead she could see Sandbar pulling his usual tricks and Trident riding along at a brisk pace, slipping between everyone else as they went down the hill towards the outer limits of Inkopolis.

"Heh..." Something ignited inside of her. A fire of her competitive spirit as she saw her friends get ahead. "Maybe it'll help if I get closer...yeah." Without any further thought she kicked her board forward and simultaneously performed a Super Jump.

"WAHEEEEEE-!"

Her skateboard rolled on ahead while she flew in the air in squid form, before she finally laded. Skillfully upon her board once more, much to the shock of other kids nearby, including Trident whom she ended up next to.

"Just makin' sure everything's alright up here. See ya at the end line, buddy!" And she resumed her position on her board with a push off the ground via her foot to gain speed.

Admittedly, Trident had begun to enjoy this much more than he had anticipated. "Aw, you really think so?" He grit his teeth, and started to pedal faster with a wide smirk on his face.

Near the rear positions, Ravine had been riding her scooter along the edge of the racing track to look out for anyone who possibly seemed suspicious. The race was the least important thing on her mind, as her main focus was to find the culprit before they would strike again.

"Hm...I'll get you stho good."

At long last, the contestants had fully exited Inkopolis and had transitioned from asphalt to dirt roads as they entered the forest towards Camp Triggerfish. While her friends were out ahead, Ravine was still right behind every kid on her scooter. She went just fast enough to where she could keep up.

However, her laser focus would prove detrimental to her progress.

"WAAAAHHHA-! OOF!"

As everyone made a right turn that bypassed the lake near the camp, Ravine lost her balance from a loss of traction. It caused her to barrel forward and hit a welcome sign for the campsite.

Upon impact, her entire body flattened to a papery state. She puffed up back to normal a few moments later, only to angrily look around the road for what could have caused such an accident.

"Okay now I know somethingsth susthpiciousssth!" She flared up and spat ink in anger as she picked up her scooter. Then she spotted a patch of black ink on the road behind her. "Aha! That'sth where I sthlipped up! But who could've..." Up ahead, she noticed the several other kids that were ahead of her in the race, and deduced there was no time to debate it.

"I'll figure it out one way or another..."

Near the front of the pack of wild racing cephalopod children, Trident had to pedal extra hard considering the dirt roads were not exactly kind to bicycle tires. "Hehehe! This is the most fun I've had in quite a while!"

"I'll say!" Sandbar shouted while he caught up to his studious cycling friend on his roller blades. One foot after the other, pushed off the ground as he dashed ahead of the competition. "You seen anythin' weird goin' on, buddy?"

"Nothing yet! I'll do my best to let you know should I observe anything suspicious!" They made a sharp turn past the camp lake, and towards the deeper reaches of the forest.

Sandar eyed up a different path he could take. A left at a fork that was coming up. "Gotcha. I'mma take myself a shortcut, yo!" He bid the rest of the racers goodbye and proceeded with his own path.

It was a much quieter part of the forest. In which the yellow boy heard naught but his inline skates that rolled upon the dirt with the occasional bird chirping.

"I think I dun found myself a chill relaxin' spot. And I can already see mahself gettin' ahead of everyone just 'round this bend here..."

SNAP

What he didn't realize, was that he had just rolled over a rope that triggered a trap above his head. From behind the sound of broken glass ticked him off about something bad that was going to happen.

"Wha-WHA?!"

The broken glass released a swarm of mosquitoes from behind Sandbar. As soon as they saw him, they locked onto him and began to follow. The buzzing noises akin to a giant aircraft above his head.

His pupils shrunk to the size of peas. "DAGNABBITNIGGITUGGETSQUIGGLYSQUAGGLYTURKEYONRYE-GIT AWAY!" Fear pumped extra ink through his body, which enabled a flight response that allowed him to skate twice as fast in order to try and outrun the swarm of insects.

They wouldn't let up either, the swarm of brown attempted to cut him off on all sides to prevent an escape. The sound of dozens of wings buzzing drew closer.

"Uhh...uhhh...hmmm..." All the boy could think to do was skate as fast as possible. Beads of sweat ran down his face as his teeth and lips quivered with anxiety. He could hear them. The mosquitoes got closer. Already in his mind, he thought of the immense pain he would face, along with no one around to help, he'd be stuck out here in the wilderness for who knows how long...

Until all the sudden, the buzzing noises ceased. Sandbar no longer heard the threat and swiftly turned his head.

"Ohh...thank cod almighty..." He began to relax, and come down off of his state of panic.

However, something he did not realize, the reason why the bug swarm left him alone. It was due to an upcoming small lake ahead that the boy didn't realize was there as he was gliding across the ground on his skates.

A set of rocks nearby caused him to trip and fly forwards. "Wahh!" His eyes dropped down. He gazed at the blue vortex of death beneath him as he fell toward it. "NONONONO!"

SPLASH!

As soon as his body made contact with the water, he flailed around in a panicky state. The liquid seeped through his skin, which caused an inflation of his body on a subatomic level. In turn, it overloaded his body's vital systems which only told him to panic even more as he started to sink in.

"AHH! OWOWOWOW!"

Next, the liquid ate away at all of his internal makeup from the inside out. Once the osmosis of his skin had taken place, there was nothing left for him to do except cry out in pain to which no one heard.

"HELP! HELP! AAAHHHHHOWW!"

At last, his body fully dissolved in a small explosion that left his clothes floating on top of the lake. Akin to being splatted, his ghost would travel away from the lake, and return him to an ink puddle nearby where his body was recreated.

All of which took the span of about five seconds.

"Brrr...rrr..." he lied in a fetal position in the ink puddle. He shivered from the cold sensation that ravaged his bare skin. "S-s-s-so that's w-w-what that...f-f-feels like...oooohoho...whoever you is that p-p-p-pulled this...I'mma g-g-g-it ya..."


	41. A Quick End

The competitors would be heading out of the forest now, and back towards a different half of Inkopolis for the next portion of the race. More urban buildings came into view as they left the campsite and by extension the forest.

Trident was still up ahead, a determined glare on his face that was laser focused on the roads ahead. For a moment, he had nearly forgotten the whole reason he and his friends entered the competition. That is, until Tortuga rolled nearby on her board.

"Yo, mah boy. See any weirdness yet?"

Her voice snapped him out of his focus but his legs continued to pedal onto the city asphalt once more. "Huh? Oh nothing yet! However...hold on, where is Sandbar and Ravine."

Tortuga hopped onto a nearby rail to grind in a casual manner. "Huh. I ain't seen 'em. Though they was tryin' to compete with us hardcore a second ago."

"Now this is curious..." Trident muttered to himself. He looked upwards. The hotel that surrounded Mahi Mahi Resort had come into view. Now just a hundred feet away. "No time, have to focus!"

The roads that went towards the hotel were blocked off as well. All of the kids on wheels would enter the lower floor of the parking garage for the hotel and make their way up. The darkness of the inside provided use for their bioluminescent ink, which gave them a bit of vision the whole way through. Once inside, the structural integrity of the garage proved too difficult to not abuse.

"WHOOO-OOO-OOO!"

"YEAAYY-AYYY-AAYY!"

"NGYYYESS-ESS-ESS!"

"Ack! My tinnitus!" Trident wanted to cover his ears but before he had realized it, the course had led them on a downward spiral ramp that people would normally use.

Tortuga had passed him once again, via her board. With one quick hope, she was on the hand rail with her board to grind down the spiral. "See ya!"

Once they reached ground level, it was time to pass the resort itself. A giant squid-shaped pool in the middle of the hotels with an old Turf War setup in the middle of it. Everyone started to roll out past the pool, until...

SMACK

Out of nowhere, a set of five big red boxing gloves punched every single competitor into the pool, which caused them to undergo the same painful panic Sandbar once did.

"EEE-!"

"OWWW-!"

"HELLLLP-!"

It continued. Mass dissolving and explosions occurred as each kid that landed in the water cried for help before promptly turning to inky dust. Their ghosts flying away moments after.

The only ones who were spared were Trident and Ravine. They both stopped on a dime to look back at the horror their fellow squids/octos were faced with.

"What?! I...how did...?!" Trident panicked as he searched all over for any evidence related to what just happened.

Tortuga looked down and closed her eyes. "...They'll be fine. But something's definitely wrong with this here race. First our friends suddenly disappear now the rest of the contendas are forced into the pool wata?!"

As they squirmed for life before dissolving, Trident looked over each victim of the heartless prank and came to a realization. "That kid with the gray hoodie. That kid wasn't here! It has to be them!"

The dark violet girl fell silent, her fists clenched with veins bulging out of her skin. "I'm going after that kid."

"Huh? But-!"

"Listen! I'm not gonna let you get dunked on by some punk. You're not a fighter, dude. I'mma handle this mah-darn-self." She persisted and threw her skateboard on the ground. "You stay here and make sure everyone's okay when they respawn."

Trident saw the look of fear mangled with anger in his friend's eyes. He didn't dare stop her, as she rolled away on her board. "Okay. I'll do it. Good thing I took those online water-treatment courses..."

Tortuga went onward. She left the resort, and followed the trail of the course back through Inkopolis. Only one competitor was left unharmed after the massive boxing glove knockoff. And according to Trident's words, he was correct. "Grrr..."

A kid wearing a gray hoodie was on a bike just ahead. They went over the hill and down towards Snapper Canal; the last location in which the race would take place before the finish line.

The urban river canal went directly under a train bridge. Two large slopes dwarfed the river from both sides along with a nearby Turf War location that was out of the race's boundaries.

The kid with the hoodie hurried on their bike as if they were in a dire rush. It was short-stopped by a projectile skateboard that was flung from behind, and knocked them off the bike.

"Wah! Ah-ow-oof!" They fell down the slope towards the river and landed on an broken rock platform surrounded by water.

Not long after, Tortuga slid down the canal's slope, and jumped onto the platform to face the kid. "Alright, buddy. Show yaself. Who are you and what are you doing this for?!"

"So you really wanna know huh? After all this time, you think you can even put a dent in my plans? I am only just getting started..."

"Ugh! Quick the dramatic overly long bad guy banter! Just show me why I should even feel threatened by ya!" She shouted with one of her hands in the pocket of her sweater.

"Good idea..." From within the kid's sleeve, the fabric stretched to reveal two blasters attached to each of their arms. "I've already mastered every single weapon there is. It was fairly easy for me to rip off that joke of a salesman." From there, two bomb launchers appeared, one on each shoulder. "And now, I'm going to show you what happens when you untap hidden potential!" Lastly, in each hand, an N-Zap from nowhere...

Tortuga was taken aback by the overpowered display of ridiculous amounts of weaponry. But then she remembered something familiar about this setup. "Are ya serious? You tryin'a copy Inner Agent 3 or something? What a joke..."

"Ohoho...don't think you know me. Meanwhile I know all I need to know about you, little miss Agent 5 wannabe."

The words uncapped the girl's pent up rage. "Grr...shut up! Shut up! SHUT UP! You don't know how long and hard it took for me to even train to get there!" Her face was a shade of red and steam came out of her ears. "How do you even know about that anyway?!"

"Let's just say a few friends of mine have uncovered a lot of info I needed on you. Now are you gonna put that training of yours to the test and face me or do I have to stand here monologuing all day?!"

"Tch...grrr..." She stood firm, but knew full well there was no chance she could take this kid by herself. She needed more time. _"Come on, where are you guys?"_


	42. Case Arc 6: Tales of Affection

Meanwhile, back at the Resort...

"Alright, everyone seems just fine." Trident had taken account of everyone that had been splatted by the water.

Just then, his friends that had previously went missing appeared nearby.

"Confound it, ya'll! Somethin's not right!" Sandbar ran up to his cyan friend with Ravine.

"Exthactly! We think sthomeone'sth rigged the racesth!"

He sighed. "Yes, I'm quite aware. Unfortunately, Tortuga's already gone ahead of us and I have no idea which way."

"Hang on now, ain't the race s'posed to end at Snapper Canal?" Sandbar brought up, "Maybe she's already there."

Ravine shouted, "Then let'sth get the heckin' heck over there!"

At Snapper Canal...

"Gah, why don't they answer..." Tortuga got herself prepared to battle when she realized nobody would answer their squidphones.

The super-powered kid simply cackled at her expense, weapons ready. "Hah! Of course no one is here to help you. You're all alone in this miserable world."

The purple girl ran forward with a punch aimed directly at the kid's face. "Oh would ya just shuddup already?!"

And yet despite this, they quickly pulled off a dodge roll to avoid it. "Woah! Not bad!"

"Dodge rolls? Really?!" She stomped her foot. "Now you're just bein' an unfair loser!"

"Hah! You're not even trying to embrace what you can fully do! Mother was correct about you. You're not even worth bothering..."

She thought about those words. "Mother...wait someone else knows who we are?"

"Ah, she's a certain sea captain whose plans you foiled a while back. And I intend to avenge her failure at the hands of you all! If only your friends were here to see this. It'd be all the more satisfying!"

"SQUIDTACKLEONTHATBOOTY!"

A inky blue bullet shot through the air and knocked the kid in the back of the head, which sent their various weapons flying.

"GAH! WHat the-?!"

Ravine was in squid form, and had purposefully launched herself at the kid to knock them over. "Ahahaha! You can't handle the truth, buddy!" When she reverted to her kid form, she held her head in her hand. "Owww...why did that guy feel so hard...?"

The kid slid along the ground before stopping at two pairs of shoes. They looked up and saw the demonic grins of Sandbar and Trident.

"Well, well, well, now. Lookit what we got ourselves here," the yellow boy grabbed the fiend by the hoodie.

Trident took a look at the plethora of scattered weapons before he returned his attention to the kid. "Maybe now you can explain just what you were doing and why?"

Tortuga made her way over. "He said his mama was someone we met. That Yella Captain lady who had that ship on Halloween, 'member?"

"Is that so?" Sandbar looked at the perp. "In that case, why don'tcha tell us more about yer mammy, before we make ya?"

"Ahaha...you're not even close!" The kid laughed in their faces.

Ravine continued to rub her head. "Guysth...I think thisth kid isn't...normal."

Her words would be put on display as fact when the kid in question wrangled free of Sandbar's grasp. "You will never take me!" In an instant, they flopped into the river canal water. But instead of dissolving like a normal kid would, sparks flew out of the body followed by an explosion.

They shielded their eyes from the blast, and when the dust settled, Tortuga was the first to react.

"That death line was terribad!"

"A robot..." Trident adjusted his glasses and wiped them off to ensure his vision was correct. "I say. Such a foolish use of technology. Causing children to waste their time in such a manner. How petty can someone be?"

By now, Ravine had shaken the dull pain from her head. "Hmm...whatever it isth, it wasth't cool. I wanted to strangle that thing up in my tentaclesth for messing with my boy!"

"Looks like that ain't gonna be neeccesary ya'll. But fer now, why don't we just head back to the race course and see if everyone's alright. This is way too much to process right now."

There was a brief pause in the air before everyone gave a nod of agreement. Together, they all shrunk to squid form and performed a Super Jump to get back to the race track.

The Next Day...

Sandbar and Trident were at home looking at the TV screen while they ate breakfast.

"Hey turn that up..." Trident asked of his friend to which he complied.

The news was on display.

Just yesterday a group of four brave kids managed to uncover a devious cheater...

The television showed a picture of each of them. Sandbar posed for the camera with fingerguns, Trident gave a sheepish smile, Ravine posed for the camera with a wink, and Tortuga tried to actively block it with her hand. Unfortunately for her, she was blindsided with flashes from all angles with various expressions of contempt.

"Ah, so they decided to showcase us on the citywide news. Oh dear..."

Sandbar shrugged. "Eh, dun worry 'bout it. I like havin' some fans. Ain't it great?"

"I suppose..."

There was a knock at the door. "I'll get it." The cyan boy got up from the table, and went to see who it was. "Hello?"

"Happy V-Day, lover boy~!"

He facepalmed. "Oh no...I forgot."


	43. Trouble In Paradise

"Huh? Don't tell me you forgot about the special day we had planned!" Ravine scowled at him.

Trident shook his head. "No, no. I did not. I was just blindsided by the date on my calendar is all. Are you ready to go now?"

"Uh, yuh! Come on, I have a buncha cool thingsth I wanna sthow you!" She grabbed his arm, which allowed for no time for him to respond.

"Oh, uh...Sandy tell mom, I'm-woah!" The door shut with the two behind it.

Sandbar chuckled and finished up his breakfast. "Ah, that must be fun. Guess I'mma make mahself busy." Just then, he felt his squidphone buzz in his pocket, so he answered. "Yo, talk to ya boy."

"Ey, it's Tory. What's goin' on for ya guys for V Day?"

"Eh, our little couple is already off. I'mma head out and find a new house to buy. You?"

"I'm headed to my old dojo. Gonna try and fidnd my center of focus again."

Since he had no idea what that meant, Sandbar gave a delayed response. "Riiiight. Anyway, see ya later, then. Keep on yer toes for any weirdness." He looked at the TV. "With our faces in the news, things be fixin'a get worse I reckon."

"Ain't nuthin' wrong about that."

Meanwhile, Ravine had dragged Trident all the way to the middle of Inkopolis.

"Alrighty. Firsth on the listh isth..." She took out a piece of paper.

Trident put his hands in his pockets, patiently waiting with a small smile. "Oh." He looked up and noticed some familiar faces. "Look that way. Some of your friends are approaching."

"Huh? Oh!"

A pair of Inkling girls, one teal and the other burnt yellow.

The teal one spoke first. "Like, sup girl?" Barbette, one of Ravine's friends greeted her.

Nulka, the dark yellow one giggled. "Heheh. Looks like she's busy with her boyfriend." The emphasis on the word made Trident's face turn a shade of ruby.

"Well duh! Obviousthly. It'sth Valentine'sth Day, right? Aren't you two gonna hang with your dudesth too?"

"Like, totally! Vulcan's supposed to be here in an hour. We're going to Wahoo World, like yeah!" Barbette exclaimed.

"And my guy-Maverick-he said he got a surprise for me. I wonder what it is..."

Trident looked up as he heard those names. "Hrm..."

Ravine interrupted everything. "Soundsth nice. But Trident and I are gonna have the most romantic day ever!" Her statement had a competitive edge to it, one the cyan boy could detect.

"...Ohhhh no ma'am, pleas-"

"Yeah, like, we'll see about that, Ravey. Have a nice time!" Barbette responded with a condescending wink.

Nulka had a wide smirk on her face. "Yeah, go enjoy yourselves. Meanwhile, we gotta introduce our boys."

"To whom are you-wahh!" Before Trident could finish his question, Ravine was already dragging him along by the arm. "I say...what does not splat me, hopefully will in the second attempt today."

Meanwhile, on the other side of Inkopolis...

Near the more, run-down, backstreet areas of the city there was a garage. A garage in which many kids only knew on the down low, but it was a very good place should one happen to stumble upon it.

Inside, a pink Inkling boy with dark skin, and the spiky hairstyle was resting on a bean bag chair with a white sucker stick that protruded from his mouth. He wore a white tank top, shorts, and a pair of black sandals.

And next to the garage door was a fair skinned, orange Octoling boy who had on a custom biker jacket, jeans, and boots.

"Ay, buddy," the squid boy spoke, "we get that delivery yet?"

The octo boy looked out the window. "Yup. The trucks are out there right now, Vulc."

"Perfect, baby, perfect." Vulcan, the squid boy, got out of his seat. "Been lookin' for a nice smoooth spray nozzle. Hopefully this'll be it."

His friend nodded and hit the button that opened the garage door.

They went outside and grabbed some boxes off the trucks. "Hey, thanks, man." He tipped the delivery driver some Cash, and they took their boxes inside.

He opened one up to see the cans of spray paint they ordered.

"Seems about right to me, partner." The octoboy said.

"Agreed, Maver. Agreed. Now it's time for us to-"

Just then, both their respective phones buzzed. They took them out to see who was calling, and gave a groan in unison.

"Oh for cod's sake..."

It was Nulka and Barbette.


	44. Date Stress

"Hey! Are you guys, like, coming or what?!"

The squid boy sighed. "Look we...we got some shipments of our product that we need to seel. Just hang on a little. Please, Barb?"

The octo boy leaned over his friend's shoulder. "Yeah...won't be too long."

"You two better hurry up! We're waiting for you!" The girls screamed over the phone before they hung up.

"Hm...what do you think we should do, bud?"

Vulcan scoffed. "Pff, just a few deliveries. Our regulars are gonna be looking for this stuff so we better do what we can. Are ya with me, Mavericky?"

The octo boy rubbed his chin as he thought it over. "Well maybe we can get things done if we had some sort of package shooter."

"Ooh now that sounds like a cool idea, my dude. But we're on the tighest of tight schedules, right now." Vulcan started to package the individual spray cans. "I'll work on these, you handle the patch tags."

"Right on, sir."

About an hour later, the two had begun their route. Their first stop was a small street corner in which a specific group of kids would normally read their comic books. They all wore matching red armbands to signify they were a...group.

"Here ya go, friends." He handed them a box of tags. "That'll be the usual 1500 Cash."

One of them tossed a sack of the coins, which he caught. But before he left, one of them stopped him. A green Inkling boy with a pilot's jacket, a pair of thick glasses and dimples. "Hey wait up. We need a second opinion. Which comic book character has cooler explosions? A guy that can make bombs from his hands or some bratty high school kid?"

"Look, I'm really caught up, I can't-"

A purple Inkling girl from the group spoke up, also carrying similar dimples. "No way! And he's not bratty. He makes explosions from his body without any creepy mouth-hands!"

From behind, Maverick leaned over his friend's shoulder. "Wait isn't that the human kid that uses sweat to make explosions? Sounds kinda gross..."

"Thank you." Said the squid boy from the group.

Vulcan glared at his friend, a silent form of saying 'not helping!' "Listen...I dunno, they sound the same to me. And I'm not really into comic books from the human era so...bye! Ricky, let's go!"

"THEY ARE NOT THE SAME!" Both kids screamed as the pair ran off.

"My dude...can you do me a favor and not patronize the customers? You know how ridiculous comic nerds can get if you provide a non-answer. And I'm not the best person to ask those sorts of questions."

Maverick nodded. "Sorry, sir. I read both of the comics they were talking about, and they're called-"

The squid boy held his hand up. "Ap-up-up. No one wants to hearr about that right now. We'll lose focus of our current major point. Next onwards to the next location."

On their next stop, they would travel to an abandoned warehouse. Or so it seemed that way from the outside.

"Vulc. Why do they call these places abandoned if people are likely in there?"

"Huh, good question." He couldn't provide a succinct answer. Instead they made their way up to the metal blue door and knocked.

A rectangular peephole slid open. A pair of black eyes glared at them from behind before it was closed. Then followed by the complex sounds of locks, the door opened to reveal an Octoling girl. "What do you wan-oh. That's our spray paint, yeah?"

"Mm-hmm. That'll be-" in a quick blur, the box was swiped with another bag of Cash thrown at the boys, followed by the door slamming shut. "...2000. Okay why the rudeness, man?"

Maverick shrugged as he retrived their pay. "Probably something technological. I could see it in her eyes. She wanted to keep it a secret for a reason."

"Uhh, my dude." Vulcan pointed at a nearby open window. It didn't take much for them to glance through and see the Octoling working with some others on some mechanical race cars.

"Wow. Looks just like the ones used in that karting tournament from a while back. Not bad, actually."

The pink boy pulled his friend along. "Yeah but we gotta keep going or else we won't-" Their phones buzzed once more. "Ahhhh carp."

"Maybe we should just go spend time with them. I'm sure our customers will understand, sir."

He sighed. "Fine...I'll send these two a text so we can meet up somewhere."

At long last, the message had gotten through. The boys agreed to meet with Nulka and Barbette at a special diner location to hang out together on Valentine's Day.

"Like, finally. We thought you guys were like, skipping out on us or whatever." Barbette giggled as she held onto the octo boy.

He responded with a toothy smile. "Of course not. We wouldn't dare miss it. Right, sir?"

Vulcan seemed a tad more annoyed, but he couldn't help but force a smile. "Oh no...not like we have anything else going on."

Nulka smirked. "Good, because we each have our plans. Which is why we're getting separate tables. None of that whispering to each other nonsense." She had to drag Vulcan into the diner and sat at a booth with him. Barbette did the same with Maverick, albeit the latter was more willing than his squid friend.

"So, we got a big day planned." Nulka explained, "We're so gonna show all these other loser couples how to really have fun."

Vulcan leaned back in his seat. "Yeah I know you wanna make yourself look good, Nu. I was just in the midst of making some darn good sales."

"Ugh! Don't tell me you were doing that shady stuff again!"

"Hey, hey. There's a market for those kinds of things. What the average cephalopod kid doesn't know won't hurt it."

Nulka's eyes narrowed to judgemental slits. "Oh yeah, you and I are so gonna spend time away from that awful place."

"Can you not..."

Meanwhile, at a booth across the room, Maverick and Barbette were giggling at their friends'...enjoyment of each other's company.

"Wow, it still hasn't stopped. I'm surprised they've managed to hang around each other for this long."

The teal squid girl laughed with a snort. "Heheh. It's like, totally how those old couples would act on like, the black and white shows of the human era. It's totes adorbs!"

"Hehe, yeah. So what's the plan today bab-Barb?"

"Weelll...it's a surprise. But the place has like, totally legal drops of death!"

"Ooh...I think I know..."

Back at the other table, Vulcan and Nulka were still at it.

"And would it kill you to change your hairstyle once in a while? And that tank top is so not fresh anymore."

The boy retorted. "Please. Changing up what you wear all the time makes for stupid huge laundry loads. How do your parents feel about that?"

A passing jellyfish waiter chuckled as he placed a milkshake with two straws on their table.

They both paused and glared at each other with wide smirks.

"I can drink more than you can," Nulka challenged him.

"Bring it!" And they both rapidly suckled on the straws as fast they could. It resulted in them both gettign headaches from consuming so much cold sugar at once.

"Agh!" They both groaned in agony, and looked at each other when they came to their senses.

"Wow you actually lasted this time. I'm surprised," Nulka hit him with a backhanded compliment.

Vulcan rolled his eyes. "Please, I've lasted through way worse. You just got lucky with that one."

Their short moment of solitdue was interrupted when a wad of chewed projectile gum lodged darted across the room and lodged itself into Nulka's dull yellow hair. "Hey! What the-gross!"

As soon as this happened, the pink squid boy got up from his seat. His eyes locked onto who he deemed to be the culprit. "Be right back, I think I know where that came from." He walked to the other side of the diner where a group of kids were sitting at a table.

Behind Vulcan, Maverick tried to get his attention. "Wait...bro, don't-" hit bit his fingernails out of anxiety as he watched his friend walk on.

It was too late. He had already approached the table where the gum wad had come from. A random assortment of kids that had varying ink colors, but they each had on a hockey mask that was lifted up to show their faces.

"We gonna have a problem here?"

A squid girl who had a very suspect gum wrapper and a straw next to her looked up at him. "I dunno, are we?"


	45. Date Stress 2

"Why yeh. We are, gon' have a problem if you don't explain why a bit of gum hit my girl in the head there. Cherry flavored. And I see you got a cherry wrapper right there."

The squid girl stopped sipping her drink to address him. "Heh. Well, being honest. You two were just being straight up annoying over there with the arguing."

"Hey, if you wanted us to stop you coulda just asked, yo. Now her hair's all mucked up," Vulcan leaned on the table. "So you'd better apologize."

She wasn't intimidated. "How about you leave us be and quit making noise before things get ugly, huh?"

His response was swift. Vulcan grabbed the girl by her shirt. "I said go apologize."

As soon as he touched her, the rest of the kids at her table rose from their seats. As well as a few more from the table next to it. Once he saw just how many were on her side, he paused.

"...Oh. Um, yeah about that."

The girl broke free of his grasp. "Heh, don't worry about it. You can take it up with my management buddies here?" She grabbed her drink and headed for the door. "See ya later~"

Vulcan stared at all of the kids that wore identical masks. "Hold on now, we can speak calmly about this, you guys. No need to get violent..."

They all surrounded him in a quiet, creepy manner.

"Okay...alright, ya'll gonna fight me? Bring it then. I love me a good old fashioned-"

Before he could finish his sentence one of the masked kids pushed him into a nearby trash can followed by the revolving sounds of laughter that filled the room. He was stuffed so far in that all could be seen were his shoes.

"Ooof..."

"Sir!" Maverick got up from his seat and grabbed his friend's ankles. "You alright? I got you...rrrgh!" After a bit of straining, he dislodged the squid boy from the garbage can, which resulted in trash being flung all over them both.

"Ow...thanks, Ricky." Vulcan looked around to see the masked kids had left. "Wha? Where'd they go?"

His octo friend shrugged. "Doesn't matter now sir. I'm just glad you're okay." Then he noticed the amount of garbage that had littered the two. "...But we need to wash up."

Their dates meanwhile, were on the way out the door next.

"Nu? Nu wait!"

The yellow squid stopped. "Just shut up. You're always picking fights with people and...and...gah! I can't stand you! C'mon, Barb, we're out!" She stormed through the doors.

Barbette on the other hand was a bit more understanding. "Um...I have to make sure she doesn't like, go crazy and like, spawncamp in her next Turf War just to splat everyone." She turned to the octo boy. "Bye...hehe...see ya later?"

He nodded with a wide smile on his face. "Yeah! Uh...see ya..."

As they left, Vulcan glared at his octo friend in annoyance.

"...What?"

"Gah, nothin'. Let's just go home and clean up..."

One thing the boys failed to notice as they left was that all the other cephalopod kids around them had taken photos with their phones.

When they both returned to their base of operations to wash up, they were in for a rude awakening.

"Ooh! V-man, lookit this!" Maverick grabbed his Octophone and showed him a viral post that showed the two of them covered in trash. As well as fail compilation videos that showed a full clip of Maverick pulling Vulcan out of it.

"Grrrr!" The pink boy exited the bathroom with a bathrobe once he was clean. "That ain't gonna fly. We have to get back at them dummies!"

Maverick entered the bathroom. "Sir, revenge is not the way to go about this. How about we let it sliiiide, ya know? All smooth like?"

"No way, brutha. You know when I gotta do somethin' I dos it. This means war..."

The octo boy sighed. "V-man this better not mess with the plans I have with Barbette...I need to at least try and spend time with her today."

"Yeah yeah don't worry about it...I'mma handle this one myself."

"I can only imagine that'll turn out well, sir..." Maverick said from the bathroom.

Later that day, Vulcan had made himself busy and located the base of the masked kids that attacked him. A similar run-down garage at the edge of town.

"Hehe...this'll be good." He went to work and grabbed a few spray cans. But just then, a familiar face rounded the corner.

A yellow squid girl with a hoodie and headphones in her ears. She stopped as soon as she spotted him. "You...dangit, Vulc. I knew you were up to no good again!"

"Nu, listen. I'm just gonna try and get revenge on these idiots. Won't be long before we get back to our date I swear just..."

"Wait...revenge?" She perked up immediately. "Sign me up for that. What are we doing?"

Vulcan went on to explain. "Tagging their building with explosive paint. When they come by-bam! Clothes ruined!"

"Hehehehe! Sounds fun!"

Meanwhile, at Wahoo World amusement park...

Maverick and Barbette were taking time to enjoy themselves. They got cotton candy, went on some rides, and now they were sitting on a bench to relax.

"Ah! This is like, so much better than dealing with those two craz-os."

Maverick giggled. "V-man is just...very passionate when he decides on something. Don't hold it against him."

"Oh no, like, I'm not. Nulka's just as messed up. She always like, has to do something whenever she wants it done or else someone's gonna get like, their tentacles clapped."

"Hehe...crazy likes crazy. Who knew? Anyway, wanna go on the Ferris Wheel...?"

"I'd love to! Come on, the line's like, totes short right now!" And they both ran off together.

As soon as they left, two pairs of eyes that were underneath the bench they were sitting nodded at each other.


	46. Homewrecking

Maverick and Barbette arrived at the ferris wheel together. Once they got on, tjhe ride started taking them up high to where they could see over the horizon of the city.

"Woah...like, it's so beautiful up here," Barbette commeneted with her phone out.

"Yeah it is..." Maverick added while leaning back in his seat. "It's nice to relax without you-know-who calling the shots all the time."

She giggled. "Aw, but I thought you liked it. Isn't it fun selling arts and crafts items?"

He rubbed the back of his neck. "Uh, hehe. It's not just...well...nevermind. I'm just happy to spend time with you for once. How's your studies coming?"

The teal squid girl gave a wide smile. "Oh it's going, like, totes rockin'! We're so close to getting footage of sharks I can taste it! Salty to be exact."

"Hehehe...that sounds awesome. I really would like to join you sometime but...I'm afraid of that stuff."

"Like, don't worry. I'd never force you but you're totally welcome to come and watch!" She said then leaned against him with her head on his shoulder.

He smiled. "Thanks. So after this, watcha wanna do next?"

"Hmmm..."

As they sat together, the ride slowly came to a stop with them still on it. It was a while before they realized the ferris wheel had stopped moving. Not only that, but the pair was at the very top seat.

"...mmmm..." Barbette had remained lost in thought on where to go next.

Meanwhile Maverick finally noticed what was going on. "Hey...it's been a while since this thing's stopped hasn't it?"

"Oh, huh? I like, didn't notice, Mavy."

The octo boy looked down from the window of the seat. Down on the ground he saw the ride operator jellyfish who was struggling to figure out what was going on.

"I...I'm not sure what's happening! Hold on!" He yelled from down below and ran off to get help.

"Well like, this sucks." Barbette folded her arms and flopped back in her seat.

"Well...I wouldn't worry too much. I kinda like being up high." Maverick gazed down below to what he coould see. "All the people that look like bugs, the nice trees, the city skyline...it's pretty up here."

Barbette on the other hand, had a different opinion. "Yeah right! I mean...it's like, sorta pretty but the height...eugggh...it like, super creeps me out!"

He put his arm around her. "Don't worry, we'll be fine. I'm sure the jelly guy will have us down in no time."

 _THREE HOURS LATER..._

"Okay...maybe not. What's taking so long?"

Barbette was curled up in a ball, sleeping on her side of the ride seat.

Maverick sighed and pulled out his phone. "Why don't they just get the fire department...?" He tried to dial an emergency number but go no response. "What the...?" He checked his phone's news feed.

"Massive Fire Breaks Out In Oceanside! Everyone Stay Away From Beach!"

"I guess that explains it...just how big is the fire that every single fire team is being used, though...?"

Another three hours had passed and by now, the other kids on the ride were getting restless. Angry shouting emerged from every seat on the ferris wheel.

"That's it...I can no longer stand this." Maverick grumbled and changed to his octopus form in order to slip through the bar that restrained them to the seat. Once he did that, he changed back to kid form and climbed on top of the ferris wheel. "Maybe if I scream loud enough someone...hey!"

After his muttering, he realized there was someone else on top of the wheel with him, standing on a nearby stabilization platform. A yellow squid woman wearing a sea captain's uniform.

"What the? You? Get back to your seat!"

"Wait a minute...I didn't see you get on the ride. Where did you come from?" Maverick stared her down. "Better yet...who _are_ you?"

"That doesn't matter, I'm on important business." The yellow sea captain turned away. "If you wish no harm to be done to your girlfriend or anyone else on board, I suggest you return to your seat. Final warning."

The octo boy didn't know what to think. Anger, confusion, and sadness swirled within him. "I just wasted six hours. Six hours...with my girl on this day, thinking we were gonna have a nice time. This isn't cool man..."

"I warned you..." The captain turned around and grabbed him by his shirt. "Don't interfere or you will pay the price. And now you'll pay dearly. That fire story was a decoy. I'm really here to collect a much needed ransom off of you kids. Won't be long now..."

"W-what? You're crazy, lady! Just let us go! There's no point to any of this!"

She laughed. "Hahaha...you'll find the point soon enough. Now begone."

With that, she threw him off of the ride. Maverick landed in a tuft of bushes on the ground which broke his fall.

"Grrr...I didn't want to get ugly, but..."


	47. Apprehension

"It won't be much longer now...all I need is-agh!"

Maverick threw a Burst Bomb up at the Yellow Captain. The light explosion of ink caused her to slip and fall off the Ferris Wheel's railing and onto the ground.

"Oof!"

"I won't let you harm anyone...and I don't wanna hurt you." the nervous Octoling ran up to her and grabbed the Inkling woman. "But you leave me no choice, man..." He squeezed her tightly so she couldn't run off.

"Gah! Unhand me you vile cretin! Didn't your mother teach you to show a lady some manners?!" She tried desperately to get free of his grasp, but the boy wasn't slacking one bit.

Mentally, Maverick had no idea what to do after this. All he could do was spout an empty threat as he held onto the captain. "It's a two-way street...lady. Now let everyone go before things get really bad!"

"Oh yeah? Just what are you going to do, boy?!" A moment of silence as she continued to struggle. Within seconds, she reached into one of the pockets on her jacket and took out a suction bomb. She stuck it to his body and pushed him away. "Ahaha! Too slow, little grasshopper!"

When he realized the suction cup was stuck to his body, he desperately tried to get rid of it. "Wah! Get it off, get it off!" He tugged on it a few times, and he fortunately managed to peel it off and throw it in another direction just before it exploded.

However, in that time, the captain was trying to make an escape near one of the docks. "Almost there, just have to make this jump and..."

But out of nowhere, a stream of pink smacked her across the face, which caused her to fall over and plop on the dock. "Augh! Dangit!" The pink blob was on her back and kept her from moving.

"Haha!" The pink stream revealed itself to be a squid, not just any squid, though. Callie of the Sisters herself. She wore a casual pear of skinny jeans and a gray hoodie as well as having her hair cut short to avoid being recoginzed so easily. Lastly, a pair of glasses completed the disguise. "I knew I'd catch up to you eventually! You're under arrest for violating Halloween code, building a device to cheat in a race, and being a general meanie!" Callie proclaimed as she held the perp down.

Moments later, Maverick arrived on the scene. "Woah, what's going on?" He looked at the pink squid girl, and was fooled by her minimal changes. "Who're you? And how'd you stop her?!"

In response, she looked up, "Oh...well you probably might've heard of me." Once she tied the captain's arms she stood up and performed the iconic pose and wiggled her hands. "Stay Fresh!"

"Oh! I remember now! But what're you doing way out here?"

"Well...let's just say I was on the hunt for a little mean girl..." she giggled, "But don't worry, loyal fan. She won't give you anymore trouble!"

Maverick nodded. Now a bit more anxious due to being in the presence of one of his favorite celebrities. "Wow...that's pretty cool. Um...so c-can you sign my jacket?!"

"Oh, sure! I always keep my handy-dandy special autograph pen for moments like this!" She retrieved it from her pocket. A thick, pink pen with a keychain and a cat shaped cap. "It's got a lil' kitty for a cap, like Judd!" She scribbled her name on his jacket.

His knees quivered as she finished up. "Wow..." he gazed at the signature on his jacket. "I'm never washing this again!"

"Hehe, glad I could make you happy, kid! What's your name?"

"M-Maverick..."

"Nice to meet ya, Mavericky!"

The restrained captain groaned on the floor of the dock. "Can we please go? I can't stand any more of your ridiculous ramblings! I have a right to trial!"

Callie picked up the captain and put her over her shoulder. "Oh you'll be given a trial alright. A nice fair one. Hehee...can't wait to tell Marie about this. Oh. Bye Mavericky!" She waved as she left with her prisoner.

"Heh...bye." The Octo boy gave a sigh of relief and turned around to head back to the Ferris Wheel. "The ride...gotta check on Barb."

* * *

A few days later...

At Musselforge Fitness, Sandbar was running on a treadmill at its highest setting. He bit his lip, and grunted with exertion. His legs thumped against the machine while he ran as fast as he could. Sweat poured down his face as he neared the previous record of longest time spent on the fastest setting. "Grrrrrrghh!"

All the sudden, his legs gave out, and his body forcefully morphed to squid form. From there, he was flung off the treadmill and onto the carpet. "Gah! Dagnabbit I dun missed by three minutes!" The bright yellow squid wiggled his tentacles and stretched. The machine automatically powered off.

Once he could walk again, he got up and went to the newly erected juice stand where he grabbed a seat. "Hey uh...Denny, can ya get me the ush?"

After a moment, a fishy head appeared behind the counter, followed by a pair of bulging black eyes and a body with gray scales. An anthropomorphic piranha who was a touch shorter than the average inkling. A red-bellied one to be exact. She had a scar that went across one eye and wore a simple, ragged tube top along with some matching shorts. Her figure was muscular accentuated with her smooth scales and red tailfin.

"Still trying to beat that record, huh kid? If ya ask me, you should just stick to whatcha know. LIke the weights," she placed a glass of green health juice on the counter.

The inkling boy, now reverted to human form, quickly grabbed the glass and drank it down. "No way, ma'am. I ain't givin' in til' I best dat record of ten minutes!"

"Hm...your sealegs need more time to grow, boy. Then maybe someday..." her face contorted into a smug grin which showed off her razor sharp set of teeth, each one with individual cutting edges down the sides. "How have you and your friends been?"

"We been good," Sandbar answered, "everyone's off on their own right now, though. Silly 'love' stuff and the like. I dun get it, really."

Denny giggled. "Oh but little niño, you must have noticed by now the way some girls glance at you while you're up there on that machine. If I myself were a little younger, I would be interested as well..."

Sandbar took a long sip from his cup, paused, and looked at the piranha woman. "Ya'll be talkin' crazy." He proceed to drink some more.

"Oh dear! You are bleeding!" She gasped and looked at his arm. Her eyes laser focused on the cut he recieved.

"Dat? Eh, I guess I got it when I fell off the 'mill. It ain't nothin'-hey! Whatcha'll doin'?!" When he looked up, he saw her entire body lying against the counter as if she were making an attempt to lick his wound. Her jerked his arm back in response.

Denny leaned off the counter and proceeded to laugh. "Ahahaha! Não se preocupe, Cardume. I am kidding. Here..." she handed him a bandage.

He gently took it between his fingers and raised a brow. "Cardummy? Wha?"

"Heheh. It's how you say Sandbar in my native language."

He rolled his eyes. "Riiiight. Well, the juice be good as always, ma'am. But I gotta get..." His attention was promptly stolen by what was happening on the television behind her. "Hey can ya...turn that up?"

"Hm?" Denny turned around and pressed a button to increase the volume.

"...That's right, the infamous Captain Yellow has been captured and is now awaiting trail by judgement!"

"Holy cardinal hagfish, man!" Upon hearing the news, Sandbar got up from the table and dialed his phone...

Meanwhile, the piranha woman behind the counter gazed at the mugshot on the screen. Then she tilted her head in an inquisitive fashion. "Hmmm..."


	48. Case Arc 7: A Break

"Yeah, are ya'll seein' dis? Dis is crazy! Yeah...I'mma see if I can head down there!"

"Oh, Senhor Cardume?" The piranha woman addressed the yellow boy as he got off the phone.

"Yeh, ma'am? Sorry, but I'm kinda in a rush-"

She nodded. "I understand, but be careful. The woman who was arrested was a tough chiquita. No seas idiota. Do not take her lightly."

"Hol' up. You know her, Ms. D?"

"A little. My memories are foggy but..." She shook her head. "Gah, I can't remember right now. Go ahead. Sorry to keep you."

Sandbar was intrigued by her words, and let out a tiny sigh of disappointment when she couldn't recall any details. "Ain't no problem, ma'am. I'll see ya later."

Meanwhile, on the other end of town...

Marie had been watching the exact same news show herself, and it brought a look of mild surprise to her face. "Hm. Guess she actually didn't mess this one up. That's a nice change." She muttered to herself while reclining on the couch in her jeans and white tee.

A few moments had passed, and her pink counterpart entered the penthouse door. "Yoooo, Mary! Guess what I did!" She performed a cartwheel over to the couch where Marie was sitting, and plopped on her bottom next to her.

Which caused Marie to jump a little. "Oof. Let me guess, you caught the lady and now she's in custody. I saw it on the news, Cal. No need to gimme all the details."

"But like, can you believe what she did?! Who goes around and steals Halloween candy and then cheats in a bike race? What a jerk!" She threw her arms up.

"Yeah it was crazy, but at least the worst is over now." She stretched out and draped her legs across Callie's lap. "Now that we've got a break, I think I might head out and chill. Maybe hit up the spa."

"Blech!" Callie feigned a retching face by sticking out her tongue. "You seriously wanna get all that weird muddy gunk on your face with cucumbers?"

The calmer sister giggled. "Hehe. You never know until you try, right? But we can't go at the same time, it'll make things way too obvious."

Callie rolled her eyes. "Hmph. Fiiiine. I guess I might try it later. But first, I'm gonna try and make my special ice cream-infused potato chips! I've been doing chef streaming lately so you'll see how much I've improved~" She pushed her cousin's legs out of the way and rose from the couch. From there she made a beeline to the kitchen.

"Gah...is she trying to make us gain weight...?"

Later on, Marie went out in her usual sunhat and glasses disguise. On the way there, she ran into a familiar face. "Oh hey...it's you."

Sandbar made his way up the same sidewalk. "Huh? Oh yo, Maria. Didja hear on the news?"

"Yeah, the one behind stealing Sheldon's weapons and-"

"Stealin' Halloween candy, right?"

Marie paused. "...How did you know that?"

"Just a lucky guess, I s'pose," he said with a shrug.

But there was nothing getting past former Agent 2's steel gaze. "Mm-hm. Look, don't try and be a gung-ho cowboy hero or something. You and your friends could get hurt and...well, we don't want that."

"Pssh. Ya ain't got nothin' to worry about. Muh friends and I got enough experience in our resppective fields," Sandbar shot back with his arms folded proudly.

Marie put one of her hands on her hip. "Be that as it may, just...be careful alright? I was just like you once, and well...things didn't turn out so good."

When she spoke of a moment from her past, he stopped to listen. At that point, the yellow boy didn't want to argue. "Alrighty, partner. I getcha. I was just talkin' 'bout the fact that the Captain's been put away with my crew anyhow. You ain't gotta worry...so long as no one else does nuthin' weird," Sandbar said the last bit under his breath.

"Let me ask you something. When was the last time you guys just...had fun together?" Marie inquired.

The yellow boy gave it some thought, and when he came to a conclusion, he had a mental spark. "That's it! Thanks, Maria!"

"No problem...squiddo." She replied and went on her way, with a sort of warm smile on her face. "Been a while since I actually heard someone say that."

Sandbar took out his phone again, and dialed up each of his friends. "Hey, ya'll...I got an idea."

And later, Sandbar, along with Tortuga, Trident, and Ravine all made their war to Deca Tower.

"You know...tis been a while since we've done this together. What if we're, how do you say it...terrible?" Trident asked.

"Ahhh-lighten up will ya?" Tortuga responded. "I missed Turfin' it up witchu guys. This'll be fun won't it, Ravs?"

Ravine agreed, a look of excitement across her toothy, jagged smile. "Heck yeth! Time to paint the town red guyth!"

"I'm tellin' ya'll. This'll be a great way for us to get back in dat groove, ya know?" Sandbar commented as they entered the League Lobby where they could select a match. "Here we go! Thisun's perfect!"

Once they agreed on the match they wanted, they all performed a Super Jump together. They eventually landed at a Spawn Point, on one end of Arowana Mall to be exact. Their team color would be green, and they each spawned in with their favorite weapons.

Sandbar had the Dapple Dualies.

Tortuga had the Inkbrush.

Ravine had the Splat Brella.

Trident had the Squiffer charger.

"Heh...let's git 'er done, baby!"


	49. New Problems

Meanwhile, on the other side of Inkopolis, at the local police station...

After the Yellow Captain was put away, she would have a visitor to her holding cell not long after.

"What do you want?"

Denny, the piranha woman had arrived to approach her. "Oh nothing, missy. I am just wondering where you have been all this time. El Capitan."

"...Oh. So you remember, don't you. How's the eye?"

She rubbed her hand over the scarred eye she had. "Never better, thank you. So what's this I hear about you messing with some innocent children? I knew you were a crook, Ms. Amarela. But this is much too far, even for you."

From behind the bars, she scoffed and leaned against the wall. "As if you would understand. You have been out of this business for far too long to even come close to being able to comprehend my struggles."

"Oh, mi desculpa, Ms. Captain. I didn't know a pirate with an endless bounty of riches could be in such a tight spot." Denny walked up to her cell, her teeth displayed with a wide smile. "Seems to me that you finally got what you deserve."

Despite this, the Captain didn't seem upset. Quite the opposite, due to a smug sort of grin she had. "I wouldn't say that. This is nothing compared to what is to come. You will only understand when it begins to affect you personally, Denista. By then it will be too late..."

"Hm. I see. In that case, I suppose I shouldn't let down my guard. But knowing you, that's exactly what you'd expect from me is it not?"

Before their conversation could continue, the Jellyfish warden interrupted them. "Okay, move along, visiting is done for the day." He pushed the piranha out of the room with his long tentacles and giggled to himself. "Haha! Finally after 20 years I can say that to someone!"

Once out, Denny exited the station, but not before swiping a donut from a pink box on the warden's desk.

Back in the city, the TWIC team had just endured their most recent Turf War match in a long time.

"Woo-hoo! Wasn't that fun ya'll?!" Sandbar shouted as he left Arowana Mall with his team.

Trident rubbed his neck. "Ack...but we lost. We were horrible! I actually attempted to perform a spinning aerial shot with my charger but completely forgot this was Turf!"

"Hehee! You think that'sth bad, I tried to hold out my brella and forgot I was out of ink, twicthe!" Ravine giggled.

"I literally. Threw my brush at this one kid," Tortuga explained in a low voice, "I hope he forgives me."

Sandbar even had his own little mishap. "Yeh, and I somehow dodge-rolled into the water! Like, das a rookie move right there, but wasn't it fun, ya'll?"

"...I suppose it was." Trident replied.

"Yeth! Totes!" Ravine added.

Tortuga shrugged when she answered. "I mean, it's better than wearing a dress."

Sandbar gave a wide grin and put his arms all around his friends' necks. "Heck yeah! So what next on the agenda, ya'll?"

As they were leaving, they would be approached by a lime green Inkling Boy with a bowl cut. He was wearing a red sweater, shorts, and blue/black Squidkid shoes. "Hey...are you guys the Investigation Team I heard about on the news?" He asked in a small voice. "My name is Bunker. I need your help."

"Maybe." Trident responded with his friends looking at the kid as well. "What do you need, friend?"

"C-can't talk here. It's sort of secret..."

Ravine spoke up next. "Hm, well why don't we all head to my placeth? We can discussth your problem there, okay?"

"Oh...thank you!"

Later, once the group had arrived at Ravine's home, they went to her backyard where an identical "base" of sorts had been constructed, just like the one in Tortuga's garage. Except outdoors.

They sat at a picnic table surrounded by a bed of flowers on one side and a garden of vegetables on the other.

"Dang, ya'll. I ain't never seen such a...neat yard before." Sandbar commented as they sat down.

"Stho, what'sth the problem, squiddo?"

The lime colored kid went on to explain himself. "Okay well...here's the problem. My sister is visiting tomorrow and I think she may be in danger."

"Oh? I see..." was Trident's concered reply. "Okay, first thing's first. What's her name?"

"Her name's Channel. Now here's the thing, she's on a routine study of different counties from her assignment at Canvas University."

At that moment, Tortuga, who had previously been reclining with her legs up on the picnic table, yelped and fell off her seat and onto the grass. "WHA-Oof!" She picked herself up. "Channel? As in, she keeps claimin' her name's pronounced 'sha-nell'? Top scorer in all her classes?! That Channel?!"

"...Y-yes," Bunker responded, "how did you know that?"

"Geh...ggrrr!" Tortuga didn't form a coherent reply. Instead she stormed off into Ravine's house through the back door.

"...Well that was hecka-weird." Sandbar said as he watched his friend leave.

Trident nodded. "I agree. She doesn't usually get so upset over nothing. Not to mention so verbally..." he looked at Ravine. "Why don't you go ask her what's wrong, Ravine? Maybe she'll be more inclined to speak with you if it's something personal."

"Yeah...way ahead of you." She rose from her seat and followed her friend inside.

"In the meantime, Bunker. Hit us with some more deets on what's happenin' witcha sister," Sandbar asked with his attention returned to the current issue.


	50. Old Problems

"What'th wrong, Tory? Why'd you get upset when he mentioned his sisther's name?"

"Cuz." She snapped back, "I used to go ta school with a girl named Channel-kept sayin' her name was 'Shan-nell' but I ain't havin' none of that nonsense. Anyway, she was always tryin'a beat me in everythin' and I eventually just..."

Ravine tilted her head with concern. "Justh...?"

The purple squid girl rolled her eyes. "...Look. No one can know about this. Not even our friends, ya hear?"

She didn't enjoy having to keep information classified from her friends, but with a slow nod, she agreed to the addendum. "Okay. What'sth the problem?"

"Well...dis girl, Channel? She rich. Don't seem like a big deal, right? Well, she likes to use her money to her advantage and tell everyone wat ta do all the time." She leaned back against the living room couch. "And when we was in the same class, she always tried to beat me at everythin'. Like this one time in pre-school..."

* * *

A tiny purple squid blob was painting random lines and drops a canvas in her classroom while humming. "Hmmm...hm-hm...~"

Next to her, a shiny magenta one was also painting. "Oh, Tortuga, darling. Could ya be a dear a pass me that blue?"

"Oh sure." When she went to hand off the paint can, her body turned stiff as a board out of shock. "What the-?!"

"Oh, I know. It's beautiful yes?" It was a painstakingly exact replica of the school upon the canvas. "Every window, every door, perfectly re-imagined in my own, vision, Tory! Isn't it great?"

"Yeah...greaaaaaaaat..."

In real time, Tortuga continued to voice her story to Ravine. "Then, in grade school..."

* * *

"Huff, huff...almost there..." Tortuga dashed around the running track, far ahead of the rest of her class.

Meanwhile, out of nowhere, her magenta 'friend' blitzed her from the side, and broke her record! "Haha! Oh how fun running is. Getting the ink all pumpy. Wouldn't you agree, Tory?"

"Wh-wha?" The young Tortuga looked at the electronic stopwatch on a nearby board. Her time had been beaten. "How is this even possible yo?!"

"And then, middle school."

* * *

"First prize goes to Chanell for her wonderful steam powered car project!" A blue ribbon was placed on her steam car as Tortuga looked on in anger.

"Mm...grrr!" She shivered with anger next to her homemade vegetable powered airplane.

"Wow, Tory! Can you believe it? I won again!"

Steam came out of the young squid's ears. "Y-yeah...awesome..."

All the other kids in their class huddled around Chanell and her project, cheering her name as she soaked in the attention...

* * *

"Ouch..." Ravine replied after the story was over. "I know how that feelsth. When you're dealing with someone who'sth alwaysth better." She put her arm around her friend's shoulders. "That'sth why I learned to justh be happy asth me! Who caresth what other people think, right?"

Tortuga sighed. "Ey. Maybe das easy fo' you. But me? I'd rather just...I dunno, smack around some bad guys than deal with other kids."

"Wait, wha...?" Ravine tilted her head, now even more confused.

Before she could elaborate, they were interrupted by the boys.

"Ey, ya'll. The homie Bunker here told us what's goin' on with his sis," Sandbar explained.

Trident was next to him. "Indeed, my brother. She is arriving on the train in a few minutes."

"Sh-she knows about you guys already and told me she wants you to keep her safe while she visits Inkopolis. Can you do it?"

Sandbar scoffed and rubbed the green kid's head with his hand in a fashion an older sibling would do to a younger one, "Heh! Can we? Does a sidewidin' jellyfish know how to tie a wretzel knot over some flamin' barnacle barrles?"

"I...wha?" Bunker fixed his hair after the yellow boy messed it up.

"Ahem. He means yes, of course we will. Right, girls?"

Ravine went over and leaned down in front of Bunker. "Of courseth little guy! We'd be happy to assisth!"

"I...I'm like, 14 though."

Tortuga was already up. "Come on. We better hurry up, then." And she exited Ravine's house without another word.

"...Is something amiss?" Trident inquired.

Ravine stood upright. Her lips quivered nervously due to having the inate desire to explain what was wrong with her friend. But her promise kept her from doing so. "Ummmm...n-nothing! We better go! To the train! Choo-choo! Beep-beep!" Then, she quickly followed her friend out the front door.

Bunker looked at the remaining boys in the room. "...Do they always act so strange?"

Neither knew how to properly answer that question.

"Uh...well, yes-" Sandbar replied and looked to his cyan buddy for help.

"...but actually, no." Trident said with a shrug as they left together.

Once the entire group arrived at the station, they stood on the loading platform whilst the train came to a slow stop.

"What's she look like again, brosef?"

Bunker took a look around as the train doors opened. "Um...she's magenta with a golf visor, short hair, shirt and tie, shorts, and ususally wears the most expensive shoes with jewelry."

In a few moments, Trident spoke up. "Aha. Spotted her. Follow me, everyone."

"That quick?" Ravine asked with surprise. "Wow, you're pretty perceptive! Let'sth go meet her!"

Tortuga casually popped a bubble gum bubble in her mouth while looking at her phone. She seemed completely uninterested.

Just as Trident stated, the individual Bunker had described was a mere few feet away, exiting the train.

"There she is! Sister!" The lime green boy ran up to her and gave her a hug.

"Oof! Oh my!" The magenta colored girl with brown skin, also had pair of sunglasses along with her visor, bracelets on both arms, and a massive suitcase. "Dear brother. It is very nice to see you again. And where are the friends I asked for?"

"Right heeeeere!" Ravine barreled forward and spread her arms for a hug. "Welcome to Inkopolisth Chanell! I'm Ravine! I-"

"Yes, my brother told me a bit about you. He said you were the friendliest one?"

"Well...I wouldn't say that...becauseth that would be bragging!" She responded with a wide smile.

She walked past her. "I see, I see. And you must be Trident, yes? The intellectual of this little...group?"

He folded his arms. "Affirmative, miss. We're here to see that you arrive to your destination with no issues. We've done this before so don't worry about a thing."

Once again, she walked past, and her gaze shifted to the purple squid girl. "Good, good...Tortuga. Nice to meet you again after your...disappearance. Are you well?"

No response. She focused on her phone and didn't look up, which left an awkward silence in the air.

"Ahem...?"

Out of nowhere, Sandbar jumped in. "Howdy! I'm Sandbar, missy. I just got mahself a question for ya. Whatcha need protectin' from and why?"

"Hm..." she turned her head to him. "Basically, I'm here to give my opinion on the theatre of Inkopolis." She knelt down and unzipped her suitcase. "As a movie critic, tis my job to analyze and give an honest, accurate perception of films that I watch. And unlike all of those uptight, know-it-all foolish complainers you see online. I take the liberty of watching every film I review with a hard, honest gaze." From the case, she took out a few books. "'Art of Critique' by Richard Swimmins, 'Theatrical Analysis' by Lawrence Fishboy, and 'Understanding Film' by Michael Baywatch. All excellent sources, if I do say so myself. But...I feel as if someone may be here to sabotage my efforts of criquing the latest Captain Starfish movie."

"Oh yeah! I seen yo reviews of that there Freshpendables movie!" Sandbar commented.

Trident chimed in next. "Captain Starfish? I heard...okay things about it, so I can't say for certain whether or not it's good."

Ravine stretched her arms out. "Welp! You know how mean people can get when they disthagree with what moviesth they like! Besidesth, we don't have much elseth to handle right now."

Chanell put her books away. "Oh good. So you'll asisst? Thank you, guys. I appreciate it."

However, she seemed to have dropped another book without noticing. One that she did not give the title of. Sandbar was the first to notice this.

"Oh, hey kid-ya dropped yer..." he leaned back to get a good look at the cover. "Yooo, hol' up, hol' up! This here is a copy of Swordfish Monthly! The fishin' company!"

Chanell quickly swiped the book. "Oh...I...yes. Thank you, I-"

"Yo, they all thhe best fishin' spots. I'm a great fisher mahself-it's a bit risky since, ya know, water. But it's fun as all heck!"

She blinked a few times, processing what she just heard. "Wait a sec...you like fishing too? I thought I was the only one."

"Pssh. Most squiddos be afraid of it so we just let other peeps do it. Like the fishin' companies. But me? Nah man, I'mma catch mahself somethin' no problem!"

"Goodness...maybe you could show me, sometime?"

At that moment, Tortuga stopped tapping her phone, and spat her gum out. Out of the corner of her eye, she glanced at the two, a rare expression of fear across her face.

"Heck yea, sure!"

Trident cleared his throat and interjected. "Ahem. I'd hate to interrupt your little bonding moment. But we should really let her get settled in, don't you agree?"

"Yeth I do!" Ravine added, "Don't wanna make her nervousth, guyth."

"Yes...well, I appreciate the help from you all." She started pulling her suitcase. "Come along, brother. Show me where mother and father live." And they left the group of four at the station.

"Wow, ya know she seems real nice, ya'll. Don'tcha agree?" Sandbar asked, to which Trident and Ravine responded with nods and agreeing words of their own.

"Mm-hmm."

"Yeah!"

Tortuga on the other hand, finally managed to break her silence. "Sandbar...are you seriously into fishing?"

"Yeah, why?"

Silence once more, until finally she spoke. "...Great. The same thing yet again with her. Well, not this time..." She stomped off, yet again leaving her friends.

"Okay...?"

Trident sighed with his hand on his forehead. "Ravine, what is her deal? I know you know something..."

Once more, the blue squid girl's lips contorted to a squiggly line of fear. The yearn to help was desperate, but the promise proved too powerful. "Uh...uh...no! Gotta go, bye!" With that, she ran off just as she did earlier when asked a similar question.

Sandbar blinked his eyes a few times before grabbing his cyan friend by the shoulders. "Okay now just what in the gosh darn catfish-fryin'-lobster-trappin'-plankton-eatin'-heck is goin' on?!"

"Ravine knows something and can't tell us about it. That's my best guess. Best we leave it alone for now...until we get a better idea."

"Fair enough, partner...I trust ya on that."


	51. Getting To Know

About a day later, Trident received a phone call.

"Hello, hello. Who am I speaking with?"

Tortuga was on the other end. "Yo, big T. Where's Sandy been?"

"Oh, I believe he's with Chanell today. They agreed they would go check out some good spots for fishing."

There was a deafening silence from the other end. Not even a breath could be heard.

"...Hello? Tortuga, you there?"

"Thanks," was all that she said before Trident heard the dial tone in his ear.

The cyan boy looked at his phone for a moment before putting it away. "Oh gosh...I hope she isn't doing something crazy."

A maple colored squid boy next to him looked over his shoulder. "Do ya need to leave? I'd understand if you had to."

"No no. She's a young woman, she can handle herself. I for one can't be piggybacking her every move. Besides, I have waited far too long in line to my copy of 'Han Shujinkō no Seikatsu' formally known as 'The Life of the Anti-Protagonist' signed by the author. Did you read chapter 79 yet, Reutech?"

He responded, "Yup. That's the one where Jinko ends up going to high school and actively tries to blend in so he won't stand out, right? My personal favorite is the one where he's offered this chance to become class president, student advisor, and teacher's assistant but he sorta casually declines. It's not that he's lazy or uninterested, it's just not his thing."

"Indeed. I find the philosophical idea of camouflage via socialization is an interesting paradox. He's out there, making friends, yet goes unnoticed and isn't even that good or bad in his academics. He's...there."

Reutech went on. "According to the author's post on Squitter, he'll be enduring the advances of some simple-minded fools before he reflects the attention somehow."

"Ooh...I do wish I could figure out how to do that myself."

* * *

Meanwhile, on the other side of the city near Camp Triggerfish...

"Now just hold that there line and dig yer shoes into the dirt for some traction," Sandbar demonstrated the proper method of fishing while Chanell copied his actions. They were both decked out in fishing vests, explorer helmets, and sandals.

"Oh, I see! This is very exciting, dear Sandy! Now...what next?"

"BANG!" Out of nowhere, Sandbar's fishing reel started to tug due to tension from the other end. "Now this here's the risky business! Can't touch the drink, so ya wanna give it some breathin' room!" He was dragged closer and closer towards the water before he gave a violent pull to force his catch out of the water!

A woosh, and a rush of water flew from the lake as his catch was retrieved. A fish twice the size of them!

"Oh my! It's so big...I have no idea how I would manage to eat all of it at once!" Chanell cried out while she watched the fish flop around at Sandbar's feet.

The yellow boy took a knee next to the fish to inspect it. "Heh...kinda disappointed in mahself. I've caught big'uns three times this size before."

She giggled. "Well you've certainly impressed me with the size of your...catch. But I have a question. Just how did you manage something so large?"

He pointed to his feet. "All in the legs. Ya gotta know when to curl ya toes up. It provides an extra level of leverage when ya pullin'. Also never lean forward. Ya gonna end up throwin' ya back out if ya do that."

Once she had an idea of what to do, Chanell went ahead and tried it herself. After a moment, she felt something before she immediately felt herself lean forward. "Gah! Stupid fish...c'mon to mother!"

"Hang on, I gotcha!" Sandbar changed to his squid form, and dug one tentacle into the sand. Then he used his other tentacle to wrap itself around her leg. "Just chill, and dig ya heels in the sand."

She did just that, and after a lot of struggle the amount of force exerted caused them both to fly backwards into a tree.

"Oof!" Chanell rubbed her head. "I suppose that wasn't too bad. Um..." she looked left, right. "Sandbar? Sandy? Now where have you gone..."

Underneath her, the sounds of muffled cries for help were heard. Despite this, she didn't realize it was actually Sandbar. "Maybe he's up in the tree itself..?" She rose from where she was sitting next to the tree, only to realize she had landed on the bright yellow squid! "Sandy! I'm so sorry..."

He had been flattened out into a comical, paper-thin shape. One of his hands rose up, grabbed his body, and shook himself out like a wet, floppy dish rag. "Blblblblblbl-" His body popped out to its normal size and shape, but he was momentarily dazed after the fall. "Ow. I'm alright, Channy. So! Whatcha got, there?"

"Oh...um..." She showed him the reel, and on the end of the hook was...a tiny prawn.

Upon seeing what gave them both so much trouble, Sandar stared at it for a moment before he fell backwards onto the sand. "OKAY LAKE, NOW ITS PERSONAL!"

"Sorry...I just have very very bad luck, my dear. My parents always said I was a ticking accident splat bomb."

Sandbar stood up. "Nah, ya just need some coordination coniditionin'-try standin' on one foot for a sec."

The instant Chanell lifted one leg off the ground to stand on the other, she fell over. This prompted a quick facepalm from Sandbar before he helped her up.

"Oooh...it's fine. I can help ya with that later. But we should git on home since it's gettin' late."

She nodded. "I agree, but...what are we going to do with these?"

"Simple, missy." Sandbar grabbed his large fish and carried it over his shoulder like a smelly duffel bag. "We eat 'em. Dun worry. I'll save you someuh my big guy here."

"That would be nice. You're a really good kid, Sandbar. Mind if I call you my friend?"

He grinned a toothy grin. "You ain't got no idea how relieved I am to hear ya say that. I'll see ya later, kay?"

"Sure. Bye for now."

They both went their separate ways. Sandbar carrying a whole fish that was twice his size while simultaneously backhanding any pelicans that tried to take it. But on the way home, he ran into his dark purple friend.

"Yo, Tory!" He greeted her with a smile.

She however, did not share this sentiment. "So. Ya fishin' with Channel, huh?"

"Yuh, I mean. Water is basically crrrrrk!-" he dragged his finger across his neck for emphasis, " for us, but man, I just like the risk, alright? I've been doin' this for 10 years so don't be tellin' me what I can't-"

Tortuga interrupted him. "This ain't about that. I'm talkin about yous spendin' time with her. S'bad idea, bro. She a manipulative wench from the trenches."

Sandbar scoffed. "Oh yeah? And just how do ya know that, partner?"

"...!" She took a step back. Unable to fully admit her reasoning to him, she mentally dialed up a different response. "Cuz...movie critics like her tend to say stuff on Squitter that ain't true about the people they hang around. I don't wantcha ta get wrapped up in nuthin'."

"Thanks. But there's plenty of them there laws that keeps false info from bein' public. So I'm good. Trust meh, we friends. Ain't no different than me or you or our homies. So would ya git off mah tentacles fer once?!" With that, Sandbar began to walk right past her.

Tortuga opened her mouth to say something else, but she stopped herself. After a moment, she sighed and looked down at the ground. "Guess I better handle it myself..."

Later that evening, Chanell would hear a knock at the door of her hotel room. "Hm?" She went ahead and answered it to find an old friend of hers.

"Oh, Tortuga. How are you today, dear?"

"Listen..."


	52. Batting Season

"Listen, Channel. If ya could do me a favor and not mess with my friend, that'd be peachy," Tortuga demaned while she leaned against the wall.

The magenta squid girl sighed. "There you go again. Always assuming the worst of me. I'm not even here to be chummy with locals. My priority is to critique some of the latest cinematic offerings that Inkopolis has produced."

"Good. Betta stay that way. Sandy don't need someone evil who's tryin'a fake bein' his friend."

Chanell snorted, followed by a haughty laugh. "Hahahah! Whatever gave off that impression? All I wanted was to make a new friend, nothing more."

Tortuga rolled her eyes with her arms in a fold. Something about her former friend's words didn't sit well with her. Regardless, she didn't wat to spend anymore time than she had to. "Fine...but I'm watchin' ya." Without another word, she turned and left the hotel hallway, leaving her rival bamboozled.

Later, Tortuga arrived at a resting spot. A natural hot springs just outside of the city, a rocky flatland with several geothermal eruptions surrounding it. Once there, she sat down and crossed her legs. _"Dangit...why's she gotta be here? Why couldn't she be off doin' her own thing, away from me and my friends?"_ She took in some steam from one of the bubbling geysers nearby, and closed her eyes. She started to meditate.

"Alrighty boys, this way!"

Tortuga opened one eye with a grimace on her face. Just nearby, a gang of inkling and octolings had were gearing up practice baseball in a field surrounded by cherry blossoms just over a ridge below where she was. _"Oh yeah. I forgot, it's baseball season again."_

The first kid up to bat in the makeshift practice field was an orange octoling, Maverick. "C'mon, throw it to me already!" he shouted while tapping the wooden bat on a sack of potatoes-which is what served as the homeplate and bases.

"You're not gonna like this one, my man!" Up to pitch was a pale blue inkling boy, spinning the white and red ball on his fingertip. "My patented Slow-Motion Ultra-Hand One-of-a-Kind Master-Craft Aviation-"

He was quickly interrupted by the outfielders on his side. "JUST THROW IT, RIPTIDE!"

"Fiiiine." He jumped into the air, performed a spin, and flung the ball in Maverick's direction. The ball seemed to defy the laws of gravity, physics, and realism as it seemed to move slower than it actually was.

But the octo boy was capable of dealing with such a trick. "Heeeyuh!" With a mighty swing, contact was made...

CRACK!

Tha ball flew up high, over the cherry blossoms, into the air, and almost out of sight. Until finally, it landed with a crashing noise off in the distance.

BAM!

"...YOU STUPID KIDS!"

A collective gasp washed over the kids in their field. "Oh no!"

"It's Old Man Jenkinzu!" a squid girl shouted.

"We're gonna be in trouble!" a squid boy yelled.

All eyes were on Riptide, the one who had thrown the pitch to begin with. "Wha? Hey don't look at me! This face is too handsome to get pulverized!"

Maverick stepped forward. "Listen, I hit the ball, you threw it. So why don't we both try and get it back?"

"Hmph...fine. But I'm bailing if things get cray," the blue pitcher agreed in a begrudging fashion.

Their entire group of friends watched as the pair made their way over the small hill that led to a shack. Tortuga had begun watching as well from the springs that were just a few yards away.

"Here we go," Maverick exhaled upon reaching the old, worn door of the equally aged home.

Riptide went to knock, but before his hand reached the door, a familiar voice boomed out of the one open window.

"I HAVE BEEN TELLING YOU OBNOXIOUS HEATHENS TO STAY AWAY FROM MY ABODE FOR TOO LONG! NOW YOU WILL SUFFER!"

"Okayletsgobye!" Scared, Riptide tried to run off, but was quickly grabbed by the hoodie thanks to Maverick. "Gah! Lemme go, man!"

"But...sir," Maverick quietly responded while holding onto his teammate, "you don't own these fields. The city said it was okay for us to practice here..."

The voice boomed once again. "LIES! YOU ARE ALL HEREBY BANNED FROM EVER RETURNING HERE! AND IF I CATCH ANY OF YOU AGAIN, YOU WILL DEAL WITH MY DEFENSIVE MEEASURES!"

"Defensive, wha...?"

Riptide decided to tug on Maverick's jacket to aid his momentum in running off before anything else was said. "Let's go, man! We don't wanna stay there forever!"

"Great. Now what are we gonna do?" an octo boy on their team said with a sigh.

"That was our last baseball, and new ones are like, ultra-expensive now!" an octo girl yelled.

"Hang on, everyone, we'll figure something out...won't we, Rip?"

The blue squid boy folded his arms in spite. "Don't ask me! I wasn't the one who wanted to hit it into space."

"Now, now, fighting's not gonna get us anywhere, bro. We have to figure out what to do to get our ball back..."

Meanwhile, Tortuga had snuck over to the shack herself while no one was looking. With her meditation interrupted, she had little else left to do at the moment.

"Ey!" She shouted once she kicked the front door open to find a pitch black room. "Give the kids da ball back, old timer."

"Feh, and let the same thing happen another dozen times? Not going to happen. I have been living here forever. This is my land. Mine. No one else has any right to step foot on it. Laws or no laws."

The same voice, now coming from a dark corner of the room which hid the figure of whom was speaking had become quieter. Tortuga raised an eyebrow as she looked over.

"Pssh. Wow. Talk about selfish. Can'tcha learn ta share insteada complainin'? I dunno, maybe move ya place over?"

The voice replied. "Why should _I_ compromise? I don't have to anything for anyone but myself."

"Okay now ya just bein' unreasonable," the dark purple girl leaned against the wall. "They ain't tryin'a hurt ya. I mean, yeah the baseballs are annoyin' but you gotta learn how ta listen and give 'em a chance. Maybe they ain't so bad, ya know?" At that moment, something popped into her head. "Wait a sec..."


	53. Envy

Meanwhile on the other side of the city, Trident was busy with his other group of friends at Arowana Mall's food court when his phone buzzed.

"Hm?" He took it out and read the text he received. It was from Sandbar.

'Ey bud. You seen Tory today?'

With a few taps on the screen, he responded. 'Nah, why?'

'Just askin'. See ya later.'

"Ugh, he pages at the worst times...now where was I?"

A yellow Inkling girl that sat across from him spoke up with a spastic tone while munching french fries. "Youweregonnaexplainourstrategyremember?" She gulped the tubers down. "For the upcoming card tournament. We all need to have our decks ready so we don't get kicked in the first round."

His maple colored friend, Reutech then added, "Yeah Candy's right, my dude. What's the game plan?"

"Relax my friends," Trident replied with a smirk. "I'll have you both know that my ideas are rock solid! Now...what cards have you all acquired?"

Sandbar sighed and put his phone away. With nowhere else to turn for answers, he went to his only other friend.

At the O.K. Coral cafe where Ravine worked, he found his blue friend waiting tables as usual. Wearing a bunny costume after the recent Splatfest, she attracted a lot more customers than normal on this day.

Sandbar went up to one of the stools at the front counter to take a seat. When his friend came his way, he flagged her down. "Hey Rave! Over here!"

"Oh Thandbar! Wassthup?" She greeted him with her jagged smile.

"Not much, I've just been wonderin' what's been goin with Tortuga." He leaned with his elbow on the counter, chin in his palm. "She ain't said a word to me in the last few days."

Casually, Ravine allowed the details to slip. "Well ever sinceth her friend Chanell hasth arrived, she'sth jealousth that you wanna hang with her-" Once she realized what she said, she covered her mouth with both hands and simultaneously dropped the plates of food that were in each one, which resulted in a loud crash followed by the sound of food that splatted on the floor.

Along with that came some complaints from some very impatient customers.

"Darnit that was ours!" An octoling girl yelled from the other end of the cafe.

"30 minutes is long enough!" An inkling girl from the same table cried. "That's it! We're out!"

"Wait I'm sthorry!" Ravine tried to scramble to clean the mess, which resulted in her having slipped and fell in some juice she spilt. "Oof!"

"Here, I gotcha." Sandbar offered a hand to help her to her feet.

"Thanksth...I gotta get thisth cleaned up before my boss seesth. Gotta go!" Before the highlighter yellow boy could say another word, she rushed off to a back room in the cafe.

Now alone, Sandbar took a moment to think on Ravine's words. "Jealous? Now ain't that a fickle trickle wrapped up in a salt brine pickle. Why she ain't just tell me?"

"Guess I better git on and try to find her. But she always be disappearin' off to places. Who would know..."

With a heavy sigh, the answer was right in front of him.

Later, he arrived at the New Albacore Hotel and found the room where his new friend had been staying. One knock at her door, and the magenta colored squid girl answered.

"Oh, Sandbar? What brings you here?" Chanell asked with a bit of excitement.

"Howdy. Ya know where Tortuga is? I...got a hunch that she's in a funk."

"Hm...can't say I know for sure. Though, when we were in grade school, she often went outside and sat motionless near the sprinklers in the garden. Said the smell of water calms her."

He scratched his head. "Hrm...'kay. Think I got an idea. Thanks for the help." Sandbar turned to leave, but Chanell stopped him with her words.

"Is there something wrong with her? Because if so, I'd like to be of assistance. My next movie critique isn't for another hour or so."

In response, the boy shook his head. "Nah. This is summin' I should handle myself."

"Alright-oh and there's something I actually wanted to ask."

"Wassat?" he turned around.

Chanell took out her phone. "My brother-Bunker. He said he's been having trouble with...something private involving one of his classmates. Could you perhaps assist him? Once you're done with Tortuga of course."

After he gave it some thought, he shrugged. "I'll see what I'mma do. Kinda strepped for time right now."

"Thank you very much." She replied with a smile. "Tortuga was correct. You are indeed a helpful friend. I'll send him your phone number." After which, she went back to her room and closed the door.

Moments later, Sandbar would get a text on his phone from Bunker. The green squid boy seemed to be hasty with his words.

 _'Meet me at the square pls! I need help impressing a girl!'_

He sighed. Now with two errands to deal with, he was torn on which to handle first. Just then, an idea popped into his head. Someone he knew closely could handle the problem with Bunker.

 _"I definitely don't cotton to no communication issues. I better get an expert on the topic. Hopefully this anglerfishin'-hubbard friend of mine answers."_

"Yo, Esker. I need a favor, can ya help me out?"


	54. Challenges

"So hol' up. Run that by me again?" Esker asked, as he now sported a different look with an electric indigo ink color.

Sandbar sighed. "I need ya to help this kid named Bunker with his...communicatin' problem."

Esker twirled the stick of a lollipop in his mouth as he thought about what his old friend had said. "Really? Das it? This sounds pretty simple. Why you askin' me?"

"Because I need to find Tory and see what her deal is. Meanwhile, her friend sorta asked me to help her lil' brother and here we are in the current."

In response, Esker snickered. "Well well well. You're lucky I ain't busy at the moment. This should be simple for someone like me."

The two walked down the streets of Inkopolis until they reached the Square. Once there, they spotted the lone green Inkling boy with the bowl cut who nervously stared at his phone screen at a cafe table.

"There he-wait!" Before Sandbar could explain the kind of person Bunker was, Esker had already pulled out a seat at the table, and propped his legs up onto it.

"Sup?"

He looked up with an anxious frown. "Uhhm...hi?"

The bright yellow boy arrived moments later. "Hey, my man. So-I know ya wanted my help and all, but to tell ya the truth I...ain't the best at..." he grit his teeth while he attempted to find the best way to make his point. "I ain't a...personal person."

His violet-blue friend rolled his eyes and spoke for him. "Listen-he's not your guy when it comes to chattin' with girls. But I am. Call me Esker, bud. I'm a...close friend of his, see?"

"Oh...alright." Bunker started to warm up to the idea of having this new guy help him. "I don't want you to feel uncomfy, Sandbar. So if you think this'll help, I'll give it a try."

He nodded and gave a quick salute with two fingers. "Bang! Now that's the spirit, ya'll. If ya excuse me, I gotta try and find one of my friend's and make sure she's not tryin'a judo kick some random elderly guy outta spite."

"Go on, we'll be just fine." Esker leaned back in his seat as Sandbar left. "So, Bunker Buster. Who's the lady you're tryin'a get the attention of?"

Bunker nearly raised his hand to point, but realized it'd be rude if he just randomly did so with his finger. Instead he switch to his smaller squid form and pointed with his tentacles. "Her."

Esker looked to where he was pointing and saw a pink inkling girl who wore a flannel sweater and shorts with green boots while talking to a friend. "The one in the Mark II sweater?"

"No...behind her."

Esker tilted his head and saw a blue octoling girl with a tank top, sweatpants, and flip flops. "Blue over there?"

"No no...the one in all black."

This time the indigo kid had to sit upright to get a better look. This time, he saw what looked like a girl sitting alone on the street corner with a boom box beside her. She had on a baggy, black T shirt that was two sizes too large, an equally black pair of torn jean shorts, and lastly a pair of black, beaten up boots. Her hair concealed her eyes, so it was impossible to tell what species she was.

"Oh her? Ya serious? Friend...she looks like trouble," Esker warned while he leaned his elbow on the table.

Bunker quickly refuted his comment and returned to kid form. "No no you don't understand! We both go to the same art class, and she makes the coolest sculptures out of frozen ink!" Out of anxiety, he started to nibble on his thumb. "I've been trying to talk to her, but she usually just sighs and looks away from anyone who comes near her...I wanna be her friend at least. So what do you think I should do?"

The leather clad boy rubbed his chin. "I...hm. This is an interesting case. I mean, I've never dealt with someone like that before. But don't worry. I'll help ya." He removed the white lolipop stick from his mouth. "But I don't work for free. Can ya get me another sucker, kid?"

"Oh, sure, sir!" Eager, the green kid swiftly leapt from his seat to the nearest candy machine.

Once his sweet tooth was sated, Esker started to relay his best ideas. "Okay. What does she like?"

Bunker responded. "Nothing."

"...Does she got a favorite food?"

"Never seen her eat."

"What about the art ya'll do?"

"I told you, she doesn't talk to anyone there...I don't even know her name."

Esker crunched his teeth on the candy stick and rubbed his forehead. "Okay...well the best thing you can do is just go up and talk to her. Seems like she's alone right now."

"T-t-talk? Already?" He swallowed a lump of fear in his throat. "Okay...I just hope she wants to..." Despite his nerves, he worked up the courage to speak with the girl, even if he had no clue what she was.

Once there, he heard the faint rock music heard from the boombox with the brooding girl not making a single sound. Up close, the girl seemed to have a much wider body shape than from afar.

"H-Hi...I'm Bunker." The squid boy broke his silence. "Ya know from our art class. I'm the guy that sits next to you...every day."

She turned her head to face him. Only her lips, nose and mouth were visible, as the rest of her face was covered by her messy black mass of "hair." From what he could see, her face seemed to have several layers of dull scales. "Hmm..."

"Um...I wanted to come talk to you since you don't seem to talk much in class. What...what kinda stuff do you like? Do you like movies?"

It took a moment before she would respond, in a coarse monotone. "I can't afford to see one."

"Oh, okay...how about books?"

Another bland reply. "Fiction doesn't interest me."

Bunker nearly felt defeated until he realized the only other possible thing she could enjoy. "Oh! What about art? I mean, you make great stuff out of the supplies we get each week, so...?"

Unfortunately, her response shot him down yet again. "My parents force me to go. I don't really find it fun."

"Oh...uhh...I..." The squid boy tried his best to think of another topic, but the strange girl rose from her seat and grabbed her music player.

"I have to go."

With that, she had left. Bunker now stood alone on the street corner before he returned to the table where Esker was. "Well that was...bad."

"Yeah. Saw the whole thing, bruv. That chick really rubs me the wrong way. It's like she's hidin' something."

"I know she's cool. I just...I dunno..."

Esker put a hand on his shoulder. "Chill, my man. First thing's first. Let's get some food and try to understand why you wanna do this so much."

"Okay..."

* * *

Meanwhile, outside of the city, Sandbar had utilized his roller blades to roll down some hills where the hot springs were located.

"She gotta be here..." he muttered to himself. "This place is normally super quiet." Among the geysers that occasionally shot out plumes of hot water, Sandbar noticed a lone shack to his right as well as the cherry blossom tree fields off in the distance.

Despite his comment, he immediately heard a bunch of noise from the small shack nearby. Amongst them, sounded like the frustrated grunts of Tortuga and someone else yelling.

"Ah man, here we go again..."

Once he arrived at the small, beat up home, he witnessed an upset Tortuga who got thrown out onto her bottom with the door slammed in her face.

"Grr! Silly old man! Gimme the beaver dam ball back!"

Sandbar let out a shrill whistle. "You lookin' mad as an air breathin' lemon shark in a barrel of dynamite."

Steamed and baffled, Tortuga could only utter one word in response. "...What?!"

"Whatcha doin' raidin' some poor old man's saloon for?" He inquired.

"He won't give me the stupid baseball back after some kids knocked it into his window."

He shrugged. "I mean, they should be more careful if ya ask me. 'Sides, since when do ya care about what some other kids are doin'?"

She looked left, right, and turned her head. "I don't have to sit here and answa you! I'm goin' home."

She turned to leave but before she could, her bright yellow friend caught her attention. "Chanell told me ya'd be here. What's goin' on between ya'll? I need to know. Now."

"Fine! You wanna know the truth?!" She turned to face him, "She's...evil. One second she acts like ya friend, and the next she leaves ya behind with nothing left. I do not want ya to deal with da same thing I did when we was little...okay?" Her tone went from coarse and aggressive to somber over the course of her speech.

Sandbar sighed. "Listen...I'mma talk to her. I don't cotton to no backstabbin' on my watch. But maybe she's changed since ya last met. Ya'll never know, am I right?"

"...I guess. But don't get too close, okay?"

He chuckled. "Ya'll know me. I don't like no one."


	55. Card Battles

"Ugh...that wasth the worsth day ever...what a messth." Ravine grumbled to herself while she cleaned up with a towel. "I justh wanna go home and relaxth..."

Unfortunately for her, she heard the heavy voice of her boss from the nearby office. "Ravine! I need ya to do me a favor!"

"Huh? Yeah bossth?" She responded from just outside the door as she was still cleaning herself up.

"Need ya to work the night shift tomorrow. One of your co-workers is sick. Plus I know ya want the extra money."

Ravine bit her lip. She took one, long look at the text conversation between herself and Barbette about an invitation to a sleepover and sighed. "Sure bossth...I'll do it."

"Good! Make sure you wear the bunny costume again, thank you!"

Another sigh, and Ravine left the cafe with her work clothes in a duffel bag. On her way down the sidewalk, she saw a familiar friendly face along with his own group of friends. "Trident!"

"Oh dear..."

She quickly ran over and hugged him tightly, much to his annoyance. Wavy waterfalls of tears ran down her face in a dramatic fashion. "It's horrible! My bossth needsth me to work but I wanna go to a sthleepover with my friendsth!"

Trident took one look back at his friends, who giggled at his expense. He thought it was best to solve this problem without making any sort of scene. "Listen...I'll talk to your boss and see if I can work something out. You go on home and get some rest. You seem absolutely ravaged by today's work."

She sniffled and sucked up her tears. "Okay." Ravine slowly grew a smile. "I appreciate it, Trident. Thank you!" Without warning, she grabbed his shirt and kissed him right on the lips. Which prompted an unstable reaction from the boy with his face turning pink.

"...!" Before he realized what happened, she had already let go.

"See ya later!" She waved as she rounded the corner and left from sight.

It took him a moment to recover, a cough followed by a deep exhale. He was unable to say anything due to how blindsided he was by Ravine's action.

"You alright, buddy?" His maple colored friend, Reutech asked.

"Shhh, he is in shock. It happens when boys are shown affection," the yellow one, 'Candy' responded.

"Ahem...please do not-"

"Relax, my guy. If anything I'm kinda jealous. You actaully have a girlfriend. I walk a sad solo existence," Reutech announced.

Candy nudged him with her elbow. "Come, we have card game to play. I managed to get my Knightfish to level 70. What about you two?"

Trident regained his focus. "OH! Well...my Kraken Queen card is now an electric variant. So it'll counter more of the same types."

"I wish those beauts were real...would make life way more exciting..." Reutech muttered aloud before Candy struck his head again. "Ow!"

"Best card-tell us."

"Fine, fine. My Bazooka Shark has been maxed out with a fire type added to it."

"Excellent!" Trident called out. "We'll take down that new team no problem with our decks in their current condition."

Candy looked at her watch. "We better hurry. Game starts in ten."

The trio arrived at a knick-knacks shop near the edge of Inkopolis. There were already other teams that had arrived before them, discussing battle strategies.

"They look like they're ready to have fun," Trident muttered as he brought his deck out. It was a set of cards encased in a plexiglass container.

"Seriously?" Reutech dismissed his friend's way of holding onto his deck. "This is Aquatic Hex Parabola not Obsessive Compulsive Parabola."

"I find this method of holding onto my cards the most beneficial, Root. What do you think, Candy?"

The yellow squid girl was on her knees, getting her cards out of a messy backpack she was carrying.

"...Nevermind. I will go ahead and take the first match. You help Can sort her things."

Reutech rolled his eyes. "Oh sure now you're enthused, heh."

Trident took a seat at one of the playing tables and awaited a challenger while he brought out his cards from his special holder.

All the sudden, someone did approach. A squid girl that looked a bit older than him with gray ink. She had on an extra large tee with red and black parachute pants and green boots. As well as shades that covered her eyes. "Is this seat taken?"

"That voice...it sounds familiar. As if it was someone who had been to my house...nah."

"Sure, go right ahead. I'm surprised-it usually takes upwards of half of an hour for someone to finally approach the tables."

"I know. Shocker, right? All talk and no bite." She brought out her own deck from a green colored tin holder. Then she took out a coin. "Heads or tails."

"Heads."

She flipped it, and the coin landed on the table as heads. Trident would be the first one to move. After shuffling their decks, they each drew five cards to their hands.

"Here we go." His first move was to play the Pufferfish Grunt card. A basic unit that didn't do much on its own.

The challenger responded with a play of her own; a Seahorse Soldier.

It was then followed up by Trident's use of a Spell Card: a Wave that would wash everything away on her side of the field.

She countered with a Spell of her own: a Sand Castle that protected from the Wave. And it allowed her to play another card on the same turn: a Laser Shark.

He blinked when he saw her side of the field. Trident hadn't expected someone to be so aggressive for their first time. So he played a Duplicator Spell Card that caused his Pufferfish to split into five copies.

Much to Trident's shock, the challenger played an Electric Eel Cannon. A card that fires eels that deal damage to multiple units, including the enemy Cardholder. "Hehe..."

"I say...I did not expect this."

"Oh, these aren't even my best. I keep those tucked away for serious matches."

Trident nearly choked from his level of shock, and covered his mouth. "Ack! Ahem...really? I'd love to see them," he said before playing his best card: The Kraken Queen.

"Ooh, good one..." in return, she played a Gorgon Hydra card that caused Trident's played cards to become stone, and unable to move for the first turn.

"What?! That's impossible! There are only ten of those in existence!"

The challenger giggled. "Aaaand with a single attack, that's game. You're not bad though."

Trident grumbled and gathered his cards up. He did not bother to bid his opponent good-bye. Instead he went back to where his other friends stood and leaned against the wall in an upset slump. His friend looked at him with confusion plastered across their faces.


	56. Case Arc 8: Downtime

That evening, Ravine went home to her family. She entered her home, and took off her shoes and socks at the door; as were her household rules.

"Mom, dad, I'm home!" She called out and put her work outfit in the laundry pile in the hallway. Much to her surprise, there was an unexpected visitor in her home. Laughter came from the kitchen in waves, but one laugh was a tad unfamiliar. "Huh...?" Until she realized who it was.

A tall inkling, though not as tall as her parents, sat at the table. "Oh, hey cuz! How's life been?"

"Oh, hey!" She gave a wide smile when she saw who was here. A blue male, young adult Inkling in business casual clothes. "Basthin! You're back!"

Basin, held his arms open for his younger cousin to embrace him. "Hey short stuff! How ya doin'? I just dropped by to see how everything's been going here and realized...you've been working hard, haven't you?"

"Wha? I mean yeah I do work long hours but it paysth well..." Ravine responded, somewhat unsure of herself.

"Worry no longer, cuz! Working out on smelly oil rigs makes you really think about what you're doing in life. And I decided why not help your future flourish? So I'm giving you a bank account with...this!" He showed her a shiny silver credit card she was free to use.

"What?! Basthin thisth is stho cool! Now I can manage my money and...sthuff!" Ravine blindly accepted the gift in a vain hope she would come off as mature and responsible in front of her parents.

Basin pat her head and rose from his seat the table. "Yeah, I knew you'd like it. Now I'mma go help your mom make dinner. Hey Aunt, B! Wait up!"

As she stared at the shiny new money card, Ravine heard her father speak to her from behind his newspaper at the other end of the table. "Basin's worked hard to get where he is and he doesn't show up often, so I hope you plan to use that responsibly."

She looked up and nodded in a swift fashion. "Oh, yesth dad. Of courseth I will. He doesn't usthually give me giftsth so I really wanna show I can be mature like a woman."

The newspaper's page was turned. "I hope so. After all, he didn't get where he is from asking others to help him. Even when it got hard, he was willing to deal with his own troubles. I hope you can do the same, with everything you do, sweetie."

Ravine silently thought about what her father had told her. She came to a slow realization of what she had done to recently avoid doing something that was important and instea dumped it on her friend. "Oh no..."

The next day, on her way to work, she gave Trident a call on her phone. "Hey, T. I wasth wondering if-"

"Good news! I negotiated with your boss! You have been lifted of the position tomorrow!"

"You what?!"

"I know. Your boss was a tough customer. But I think the message was clear."

With a heavy sigh, she responded. "Thanksth..." And hung up right after.

Ravine hurried down to the cafe where she worked. She entered and saw a green Octoling girl busy serving customers. She wasn't in any sort of special costume, just her everyday clothes. And yet somehow, she was making the patrons happier and kept their attention much longer than Ravine could.

"What?! Who're you?"

She noticed Ravine and giggled before she walked over. "Well well well, Ravine. How does it feel to be outclassed by someone much prettier and nicer than you?" The octopus girl snarked in a haughty fashion.

"Ponda?! Wait...you're filling in for me?"

"Well...not exactly, see. Once the boss got a call from someone about how you really needed time off for something important, I was horridly dragged out of bed for the job as server. Did I complain? Noooo. Did I try and get out of it with a call from my boyfriend? Noooo!" Ponda cackled in her face. "How lazy can you be, my girl?"

"Lazthy?! I sthow you...! You uppity witch!" Ravine snapped back with her teeth clenched.

"Listen, it's nothing personal. Just go on and have fun with your friends." She pat Ravine on the shoulder and left her alone. "See you later~"

"Grr...no way. Not gonna loseth to her!"

Later that day, Sandbar walked into the cafe with a few friends he had made while playing Turf War a while back.

"...and I told her, 'I'mma 'bout to dump my entire ink tank in yer Splat Zone and ya can't stop me!'"

"And then what happened?" One of his friends asked.

He made fists and showed them off. "I channeled my power in these here hands and blew it up with a Booyah Bomb, son!"

They sat down on stools at the front counter where the green octoling, Ponda was ready to serve them as with any other customer.

"Hello boys, what would you like?"

Sandbar answered. "Four shakes please? Thanks, missy." When she turned around to get them, a kid wearing a longcoat that looked like it was straight out of a detective movie. When he saw the kid sit by him, he rolled his eyes. "I know it's you, Ravine. What'er ya doin?"

"Shhhhhth!" She said while she spat a bit of ink. "Thandbar, thisth girl isth not who you think sthe isth. Sthe's gonna try and...do sthomething. I can feel it."

The yellow boy rolled his eyes. "Sounds like someone's more jelly than a barrel of squashed grapes. She seems nice so whatcha trippin' over?"

Ravine was determined, her eyes locked onto the octoling like laser beams.

"Aaaand she ain't listenin'."

The boys received their shakes. As they started to enjoy them, Sandbar looked up at one of the TVs in the cafe that showed a news report.

"Breaking news! Cash register tills are mysteriously disappearing around many shops in the city. We encourage everyone to triple-check their daily profits."

"Hrm..." Sandbar rest his elbow on the counter, chin in his palm. From the corner of his eye, he saw an overly-enthused Ravine who looked like she had the greatest idea ever. "Ah carp, here we go again-"

"I got it! We'll sthake the placeth out!"

"Nope, nu-uh." Sandbar shook his head. "I want a break from all these 'cases'. And I ain't got no idea whatcha thinkin' but this ain't it chief."

She threw her arm around his neck. "Don't worry...I'll credit ya when we break thisth open!"

"Okay fine get offa me." He protested. "Yer mashin' ma tentacles!"


End file.
